Christmas with Auggie
by Little Miss Isabelle
Summary: When Auggie makes a holiday admission to Annie, she finds herself on a new type of mission-to reunite Auggie with Christmas.  Now COMPLETE!
1. Propositioning Auggie

**A/N:** Hello, again! I'm so excited to finally bring you this story… it's been in the works for months, now, but I wanted to wait until closer to Christmas to bring it out of its development stage… And yes, I know, it's probably really cliché to do a Christmas story during Christmastime, but I don't really care, haha. I just hope it hasn't been done before on here.

And to those who loved _The Hideaway_, this is probably going to be really different. No exciting suspense… kinda a mix between a longer story and a collection of one-shots… but I'm not really sure these are going to be technically classified as one-shots, either… Just a crazy little bunny I didn't want to get rid of. :) Especially since I love Christmas so much. I figured Annie and Auggie had to, as well. :)

Please let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Still. None of it, except the plotline. :)

Chapter 1

Propositioning Auggie

Friday, 26 November 2010

Langley, Virginia

A small smile slid up Annie Walker's face as she saw a familiar lanky form climbing out of a taxi cab. He pulled his tailored, wool coat closer around his body, reaching into his pocket for his green laser before stepping toward the building.

As the cab pulled down the lane, Annie called out, "Hey, Aug! Wait up."

The man turned around, an easy grin covering his face. "Hey, Annie."

She sprinted to catch up and slid her arm through his easily. "How was your Thanksgiving?" she asked, leaning against him as a gust of wind blew in their faces.

He rolled his eyes. "My brother called."

"Which one?" she asked, knowing the subject of his family wasn't the easiest to broach.

"Oscar. He was demanding to know why I couldn't make it to Illinois for one of the biggest holiday traditions in the Anderson family." He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Are you ever going back?" she asked tentatively.

"Probably not. My father all but disowned me two years ago."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a Tupperware container, handing it to him. "Here. Dani _insisted_ I bring this to you."

He accepted it curiously. "What is it?"

"Thanksgiving leftovers. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, a roll, some pumpkin pie…"

He glanced at her incredulously. "_All_ in this one container?"

Annie smirked. "No one ever said it was going to be edible by the time you got it."

He smirked in reply and scowled as another gust of wind attempted to topple them over. Annie breathed in deeply, treasuring the feel of it. "I _love_ winter," she sighed.

Auggie looked at her like she was crazy. "You _love_ this?" He pulled open the front door, and they stepped inside. "The snow, the wind, the idiotic shoppers? The way everything _wreaks_ of peppermint and cinnamon, the frenzy?"

She flashed him the same look. "You _don't_ love this? Auggie, are you crazy?"

He snorted. "No, way. I like to stay sane all year round, thank you very much."

She studied him, feigning an aghast look. "Christmas is fabulous, Auggie! You don't like it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Annie, my dad kicked me out of the house on Christmas Eve, the same year my sight was taken from me. It doesn't come with too many favorable memories."

Sympathy coursed through her, and she hugged his arm a bit tighter. "Auggie…"

He shook his head. "No. Don't pity me. I've never wanted it. I still don't. Christmas and I get along just fine."

As they passed through security, she dropped his arm and the subject. For now.

There was no way she was going to let Auggie be a grinch on Christmas, not when it was within her power to completely change his opinion on the matter.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Annie stopped short at the door to the break room, noticing Auggie eating the Thanksgiving leftovers that Dani and the girls had insisted that she bring him. She had never seen a guy happier to be eating anything, and it amused her. He was mixing his pumpkin pie with his mashed potatoes and gravy, his turkey with corn, and whipped cream and cranberry jam on his buttered roll. Yet, he didn't seem to care. The grin on his face reminded her of Chloe and Katia at Christmas last year.

"Annie?" he asked, his mouth still half-full of food.

She grinned. "Hey, Aug. Enjoying yourself, there?"

He returned the grin. "Have I ever told you that Danielle's a great cook?"

"Yeah," she said drolly. "Only a couple of times." She walked to the counter, preparing a new cup of coffee. When it finished brewing, she took the seat across from him. "I have a proposition for you," she said cautiously.

"Propositioning me, Agent Walker?" he asked with a cheeky grin. She couldn't help rolling her eyes.

She slapped his hand playfully. "Just listen. I'm being serious this time."

He tried to focus on her words, but she could see his lingering smile. She rolled her eyes, but continued anyway. "I'm going to teach you to fall in love with Christmas."

His eyes widened in interest, before he rolled them sarcastically. "You're going to make me fall in love? With Christmas? Interesting concept you've got, there, pal."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't say I was going to make you fall in love with Christmas. I said I'd teach you. Not that you have any say in the matter."

He humphed. "I figured."

She squeezed his arm, preparing to leave. "Don't worry. It'll be fun. It'll be the most fun you've ever had during a kidnapping in your life."

He snorted, but, as she left and he lifted his coffee mug to his lips, she saw a wry, amused smile lingering there.

**A/N:** So what do you think? Review, please! Oh, and if you have fabulous ideas you'd love to see… I'd love to know them. I already have it mainly planned out, but there's room for more. :)


	2. The Pokiness Tester

**A/N:** Okay, I'm officially having too much fun with this! Annie + Auggie + Christmas = the most awesome thing ever. :) I've been wanting to stick to about a post a day (maybe less over the weekends), and I'm still going to try, just so you know, but with finals coming up, some posts might get pushed off until a bit later. I'm going to desperately try to write about a post a day, though!

Also, can I just say thank you for all the reviews? I really, REALLY didn't expect this many. I was so honored that so many people reviewed my first story, but this makes me even happier, haha. Please keep them coming! I'd love to know what you think of this next installment. :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine… not mine… will never be mine.

Chapter 2

The Pokiness Tester

Sunday, 28 November 2010

Auggie's Apartment

Annie stared at her best friend, flabbergasted, when he emerged from his bedroom. She remembered explicitly telling him that they were going tromping through a tree farm this afternoon, looking for a Christmas tree with Dani, Michael, and the girls. Battling the wind, out in the elements for a good while. _The forecast was calling for snow, for crying out loud._

He was dressed in black dress pants, a blue Oxford shirt, and a sweater. _Had he just returned from Langley? _The first words that came to her popped out of her mouth. "Have you _ever_ been Christmas tree shopping?" she asked him, incredulous. Belatedly, she wished she could take the words back. Auggie had agreed to this, after all, and her disbelief wasn't going to help matters.

He frowned at her. "Of course I have. I was hoping Danielle and Michael were looking for a new fake tree."

She glared at him, mouth open, as if he had uttered the horror of horrors. "A _fake_ tree? Auggie, you have been away from Christmas altogether too long," she muttered, turning him around where he stood, and she pushed him all the way back to his bedroom.

She slid open his closet door and searched its contents. Finding a sturdy pair of jeans, she shoved them in his direction. "Here. Put this on."

He awkwardly felt for what she was handing him. "Jeans?"

She turned to smirk at him. "Yeah, Bright Eyes. You're going to be traipsing about a tree farm. Langley attire just won't fly."

She rummaged though the rest of his hanging clothes and the sweaters folded and placed neatly on the floor. She handed him a pullover sweater and reached for his wool coat and a plaid red and black scarf. "Go change," she said, gently shoving him in the direction of his bathroom.

When he returned, she handed him the coat and the scarf. When his hands closed around the scarf, his face scrunched up at her. "Annie… really. I think you're taking this a bit too far. A scarf?"

She snorted at him. "You need it. And you're taking it. You'll thank me when your nose almost freezes off."

He slipped into a pair of sturdy shoes, and she studied him. "Okay. You're Christmas-tree proof. Let's go."

He smirked and reached for his cane, setting on the island in his kitchen. She slid her arm through his, and tugged him toward the door.

He groaned.

_Here goes nothing._

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Sunday, 28 November 2010

Neville Tree Farm

As the six of them piled from the car, the girls squealed as they ran ahead. They had been singing the whole way to the tree farm, and Auggie was glad they were able to run off some of their energy. They were cute, in a way, but when they were wired, he was glad to have them keep their distance.

He climbed from the car, and Annie followed closely behind him. A gust of wind flew in their faces, and Auggie groaned. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Annie rolled her eyes and slipped her hand through his arm. "Oh, you. You haven't even given it a shot yet."

He flashed her a funny face, and she laughed, hugging his arm tighter when another gust of wind attacked. "Soon you're going to be wishing that scarf was wrapped around you like a mummy. Did you bring gloves?"

He searched his pockets as Annie guided them in the direction of the Brooks family. "Nope," he said finally.

She reached into her pocket and handed him one of hers. "Probably too girly for your macho-player persona, but it'll keep you warm."

He accepted the gift and slid it easily onto his right hand. "So how do you expect a blind man to help you pick this Christmas tree?" he asked, somewhat curious, somewhat complaining.

She flashed him a grin. "Oh, I've got it all figured out. Chloe and Katia LOVE the pokey needles, because when they were little, I would touch the needles and howl in pain. They thought it was the funniest thing ever. And Dani hates the pokey leaves. So does Michael, because he has to get underneath it and fasten it to the Christmas tree holder. So you can help us find the perfect medium."

He snorted. "Sounds like a boring job to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Aug, you're not even trying. This is going to be fun. And despite your trepidations, you can participate—and more than just as a pokiness tester. I know you haven't done much with Christmas since… well, you know. But it means a lot to me that you're here, okay? I love Christmas, and I want you to, too."

He seemed to be studying her face. She hoped he could see how glad she was that he was trying, if only for her, and that she wanted this to be the best Christmas for him. "Okay," he said finally.

After a while, he warmed to the idea, and, as the girls raced across the farm, promising to have found "the perfect tree" and Dani and Michael searched at a more leisurely pace, Annie and Auggie strolled along, Annie pointing out the dips in the ground. Usually, they would catch up with Dani in order to leave their opinion on the tree. Too fat. Too few branches. The needles were too sharp. The branches weren't strong enough.

Auggie's teasing observations had Chloe and Katia howling with laughter. "Are you kidding? Santa Claus could fit in that thing!" And then he would reach his hands out to feel the width of the tree. "Nope, too skinny." He especially loved repeating that observation when the tree was wider than usual. Then he would reach up and pat the top, head cocked as he thought. "Nope. Definitely not. The top's too flimsy. The poor angel will fall over and break it's head open!" No matter how many times Chloe and Katia insisted that they didn't put an _angel_ at the top of their tree, but a _star_, he loved to include that detail. Then he would rub the needles between his fingers. "Definitely too soft. Annie'll never hurt her fingers on this one!"

As their search continued, Auggie teasingly began pointing out Christmas trees at random. "What about this one?" he would say, and Annie would seriously study his consideration.

"I like it," she'd say, humoring him. Or, "That would be an excellent choice, Aug, if we were two feet tall." Then they would laugh and continue their easy pace.

After they'd spent nearly an hour at the tree farm, and Annie was beginning to shiver at his side, Auggie motioned to another tree. "What about this one, Annie?"

She lifted her head from his shoulder to inspect it. It was just the right height—about seven feet tall—just the right color green; full, but not too fat; beautiful shape. She squinted and could imagine all the lights and ornaments covering it. "I like it, Aug," she said, a little bit of wonder filling her tone. "Pokiness test, please."

He reached out touched the needles. "Perfect," he said with a smug grin.

She laughed. "Wait right here. Let me go get Dani and Michael."

Five minutes later, Annie returned, Dani, Michael, and the girls in tow. Danielle studied the tree thoughtfully. "I love it's shape," she commented. She reached out and touched the needles. "Not too sharp, either." She turned to her husband. "Michael?"

He studied it for a moment. "Looks fine to me."

Chloe and Katia studied the tree. "I like the baby tree better," Chloe complained.

Annie and Dani shared an amused glance. "The baby tree is for baby rooms," Katia reminded her. "We need a big tree for a big room."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Is it pokey enough?" she asked, and Katia touched the needles. "Yep! Aunt Annie will scream a lot."

Auggie flashed Annie an amused look, and she squeezed his arm in reply.

"Is this the one you want?" Michael asked, turning to his wife.

A convinced, proud smile tilted the corners of Danielle's lips. "I think this is the one."

Ten minutes later, they had returned to the barn with the tree farmer, and the workers had wrapped up the tree while the girls jumped around and sang Christmas songs. Annie tugged Auggie underneath the overhang of the barn. On a crudely-fashioned table, homemade ornaments were for sale, and a basket held a variety of flavors of lollypops was set out for all to partake of freely. "Which kind do you want, Aug?" she asked.

"Which kind of what?" he asked.

"Lollypops. They give them away for free."

He shrugged, and she handed him a root-beer flavored one. "Here."

He unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. "Mmm," he said, his lips turning up in a cheeky grin.

She grinned up at him, popping the blue raspberry one into her mouth. "You're such a kid," she said with a laugh.

As they drove home a few minutes later, the car was filled with laughter, anticipation, and proclamations of how their new tree would look. Annie stole a glance at Auggie. Joy welled inside of her when she saw the smug look on his face.

Despite all his protestations of not wanting to celebrate Christmas, he seemed to be proud that _he_ had picked their Christmas tree. She smirked. She knew he couldn't hate Christmas forever.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Sunday, 28 November 2010

The Brooks' Home

Nearly two hours later, they had returned to the main house and ate a light supper of grilled cheese sandwiches and pea soup (the girls' favorite—they had insisted. Danielle had insisted on the soup.). Dani and Katia had untangled the lights and hung them on the tree, and now Danielle was hanging hooks on the ornaments and handing them to Annie, Auggie, and the girls as they hung them around the tree. The story of the Grinch played from Michael's iPod, plugged into the radio.

Auggie found that he liked feeling the shapes of the ornaments. He remembered that his mom had always had lots of red and gold Christmas balls, but the ornaments Dani had were interesting. Some in the shape of stars, some glass balls, some cross-stitched designs, some little animal figurines, many exquisitely shaped and tenderly loved ornaments. Each one had their own story, and he felt himself wondering what story went with each ornament.

After a while of studying the ornaments with his fingers, Annie took notice, and handed him an ornament carefully. "This is my favorite ornament," she whispered.

He studied it with his fingers. A star? No, the star was only part of it. They hung, like charms, from something. A bar, maybe? "Why?" he asked curiously.

"It was… the last gift my dad ever gave me," she said softly. "Before he died."

"Oh," he whispered. "I'm sorry, Annie."

She reached over and kissed his cheek. "Not your fault, Bright Eyes." She reached up and hung it near the top, where everyone could see.

The girls had noticed Annie talking about her favorite ornament, and they had clamored over to him with theirs. "Feel mine, Mr. Auggie!" Chloe squealed, pressing a small Hallmark ornament into his hand. A baby in a cradle. Katia followed suit, a little more quietly.

He managed a smile for each of them, handing them their ornaments back. He somehow understood the significance of it, even though his family had never given each other ornaments. There was something about Christmas with Annie's family. It meant so much more than just presents and time away from the real world.

After they had finished decorating the tree, Michael lifted Chloe to place the star at the very top, and they shared cinnamon-sugar toast and hot cocoa as the fire blazed in the fireplace. Auggie was surprised to discover that he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to leave.

True, Christmas seemed like a waste of time. But with Annie and her family, Christmas seemed to be a time filled with joy, and togetherness, and love. It made him wonder what had ever gone wrong with his own family.

It also made him wonder if this feeling was something he could keep with him forever.

**A/N:** Review, please! And happy early Christmas! (Is it okay to say that before it's even December yet?)


	3. The Rudolph Contingent

**A/N:** Managed to write this between the two papers that are due tomorrow… Hope it was worth it, hehe. I like how it turned out. :) Read, enjoy, review, please! :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine…

Chapter 3

The Rudolph Contingent

Wednesday, 1 December 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

Annie pushed open the door to the guesthouse, holding the door open for her guest. "Be careful of the doorway," she cautioned. "It raises up a little."

Auggie carefully stepped across, closing the door behind him. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

On Monday, Annie had been shipped over to Egypt for a simple brush pass—this one, miraculously, _was_ simple—and had just returned that morning. After some paperwork and debriefing, she had insisted on picking up where they had left up a couple days ago. They had picked up Taco Bell take-out on the way, and now they had arrived at Annie's guesthouse. She had insisted on keeping today's Christmas activity a secret, though.

Her eyes twinkled as she led him into her kitchenette and indicated a barstool at the counter for him. "You'll see. Eat your tacos, bright eyes."

He smirked as he slid onto the stool, amused at her latest nickname for him. He had asked her about it, one night at Allen's. She had said that he saw more than anyone else she knew. She said he didn't need eyes to see her, to know her. It only made him want to belt out Bonnie Tyler song, but he indulged her.

Happily, he began munching on his tacos while he waited for her to sit.

"So I heard from a little birdy that yesterday you were still talking about how you picked out a Christmas tree for my sister," she teased, sliding onto the barstool next to him. She tore open the sheath containing her chicken quesadilla and savored the first bite with a drawn-out _mmm_.

Auggie scowled in her direction. "The girls promised never to tell!"

"You've been talking to Chloe and Katia in my absence?" she asked, a bit shocked. He was already changing. What had happened to the Auggie that didn't want to do anything for a third-grader?

He clamped his mouth shut. "Nope. Course not," he added, a bit too hastily.

She smirked in his direction. "Nice try, Aug."

He sighed. "Okay, yeah, I was talking to the girls. But they called me! They just kept gushing on and on about how awesome the Christmas tree was." He paused mid-bite. "So what little birdy were _you_ talking about?"

Annie smirked again. "Stu."

He groaned. "How many times have I told him to not listen to my phone conversations? I swear, he's worse than a gossip."

Annie laughed and nudged his elbow with her own. "C'mon. Hurry up. We've got Christmasy stuff to do."

He stuffed the last bite of his last taco in his mouth and washed it down with an exaggerated sip from his soda. "Ready whenever you are," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Show-off."

He grinned and turned to face her, propping his elbow on the counter while he waited for her to finish. She was amazed at how much it looked like he was staring at her with a bored, patronizing, lazy grin. As she crumpled the wrapper for the quesadilla in her hand and tossed it in the trash can, she shook her head in amazement. "Okay, Aug. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" he asked, sliding off the barstool.

"Nowhere," she said, pulling dishes and ingredients from different cabinets from her kitchen.

He stopped short. "So what are we _doing_ then?"

"Baking cookies," she supplied with a grin.

He stilled, and a light entered his chocolate eyes. "Did you say _cookies?_"

She laughed at the hopeful, ecstatic look on his face. _Note to self,_ she thought. "Yep. I hope you like those cookies with the Hershey kisses on top of them."

He grinned. "I think I'll manage."

She tugged at his arm. "Good." She pulled open a cabinet door, and pulled out a bag of Hershey kisses. "Here, pal. Can you take off the wrappers? And don't eat too many of them, if you can help it."

She spotted his chagrinned look, and she laughed. "Don't you think I know you, after all this time we've spent together? These are my favorite Christmas cookies, dude. You're not ruining that for me."

He slid back onto the barstool. "Do you have a bowl to put the chocolate in?" he asked, and, a few seconds later, a ceramic bowl glided across the counter and came to a stop right in his grasp. He positioned it where he wanted and grinned up at her. At least, where he thought she would be, and he was usually quite accurate with these things.

As she gathered and mixed the ingredients for the peanut butter cookie portion of the cookies, Auggie peeled the wrappers off the chocolate, placing most of them in the bowl. He snuck a few, hoping Annie didn't notice.

When he finished, he snuck one final Hershey kiss, and, his mouth nearly empty, he announced, "Done."

She glanced up at him in time to see him finishing the chocolate in his mouth. She feigned a scowl and dipped her fingers in the flour. A mischievous light came into her eyes, and she decided to follow her instinct.

"Hey!" he shouted as the light powder covered his face. "What was that?" He streaked a finger down his cheek and stuck it in his mouth to taste. "Flour? Why'd you throw flour at me?"

She giggled. "Told you not to eat my chocolate," she supplied with a lingering smirk. Still, she stood at a safe distance. She knew Auggie. And knowing him, she knew that he would most likely find something to retaliate with. She just hoped it wasn't her candy.

She walked to the counter, starting to feel sorry for him. She wet a paper towel and slowly walked to his side, not yet convinced that he wasn't going to try and get her back.

She slipped onto the barstool next to him. She tilted his face to hers and held his face still. He tried to squirm out of her grasp, and, exasperated, she said, "Auggie! Just be still. I'm trying to get it off you."

The air sizzled between them, and she wondered if he felt it, too. She ruffled his hair affectionately in attempt to lighten the mood after she finished.

She studied him for a moment. How was it possible that he was _more_ attractive with his hair mussed and graying because of the flour? It was unfair.

Before she could step away, he streaked his finger down his still-wet cheek and smeared it down hers with surprising accuracy. With a smug grin, he said, "There. Now we're even."

She rolled her eyes, but she was glad the moment had broken. She loved Auggie more than just about anything in the world, but the idea of taking their relationship to the next level frankly scared her to death. Ben's demise, only a few short months ago, still haunted her some nights. She wasn't ready for a new relationship yet.

And even if she was, she wasn't sure she wanted to ruin what she had with Auggie.

She walked away, trying to put the thoughts from her mind, and pulled two cookie sheets from a cupboard. She pulled out the PAM and sprayed the pans quickly. "Ready to help again, bright eyes?" she asked, and he felt his way over to where she was.

She scooped out the cookie dough, placing each one on a cookie tray, and he would proudly add the Hershey kiss to the top. She smiled to herself as she watched him. She'd never expected to see him so happy to be in the kitchen.

She never expected to see him so happy to do _anything_ for that matter.

When she wasn't looking, he held a Hershey kiss up to his nose. At that exact moment, the girls' burst through Annie's front door. "Annie! Annie!" they yelled. "Are you coming to watch the movie?"

Auggie turned his head in their general direction, and they howled with laughter.

"Mr. Auggie, you're Rudolph!" Chloe exclaimed between giggles.

He smirked as he turned around to face Annie. She rolled her eyes. "That one's definitely not going on one of my cookies. Eat it, mister."

He popped it into his mouth with no qualms, and the corners of his lips turned upward in a satisfied, cheeky grin.

The girls bounded toward the table. "Annie, Annie, can we be Rudolph, too?"

Annie laughed, realizing how much she loved spending Christmas with Danielle and her family. And now, Auggie. She nodded to the bowl. "Okay. Just one time each, though, okay? I need those for the cookies."

The each reached into the bowl solemnly, and paraded around the guesthouse in their red dresses and chocolate noses. Annie put the first tray into the oven, letting them romp and play. She glanced wryly at Auggie after setting the timer. "Thank you, so much, for this," she said sarcastically, a hint of amusement seeping through.

He flashed her an innocent look. "What did I do?"

"You started the Rudolph contingent. And now they're going to go back to Dani, chocolate dots on their noses, and she's going to want to know what I'm feeding her poor kids."

He smirked at her. "What can I say? I'm just a regular home-wrecker."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's not how the word's supposed to be used, Aug."

He just grinned up at her and popped the last Hershey kiss into his mouth before she could protest. _Christmas with Annie was going to be fun,_ he decided, throwing an affectionate smile in her direction.

**A/N:** Review, please!


	4. The Dancing Stars

**A/N:** Not sure if this is at all very accurate… I'm guessing it could actually be pretty dangerous for Auggie, haha, but I don't think it would have had the same potential to be adorable without the bit of danger. Read, review, enjoy… let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Covert Affairs is not mine. Annie and Auggie aren't mine. Neither are Chloe and Katia. What is mine? Not much, really…

Chapter 4

The Dancing Stars

Thursday, 2 December 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

"Auggie!" Annie called out. "Auggie, where are you?"

"Right here," he called out, nursing his cup of coffee as he waited on her couch. She had seated him there as soon as they walked through her front door and promised to return. _Where had she expected him to go?_

He heard a grunt, and the sound of a muffled crash… like something landed on her bed. "What was that?"

She heaved a sigh as she sank next to him on the couch. She had fallen on his shoulder, and he found that he didn't really mind the way she was leaning against him. In fact, as he breathed in the heady combo of her grapefruit perfume and her fruity-scented shampoo, he decided he liked it. He decided to lock that tidbit of information for more consideration later.

"Christmas decorations," she groaned. "Three boxes of them."

He flashed her an are-you-crazy expression. "How did you see over the boxes?"

"I couldn't," she groaned. "That's why I was asking where you were. I didn't want to trip over you."

"Oh. So we're decorating the guesthouse now?"

She beamed at him. "Just as soon as Chloe and Katia get here. I promised they could help."

Just then, the door banged open, and choruses of "Aunt Annie!" filled the room. She leaned forward a bit to hug each of her nieces, and suggested they look through the boxes.

She smirked as she rested her shoulder against Auggie and she listened to the enthusiastic exclamations coming from her nieces. She glanced at Auggie, her heart warming when she saw a lingering smile on his lips. He seemed to be staring right into her eyes, and she looked away, quickly.

There he went again, looking straight into her soul. He may not see the physical world, but how was it possible that he saw straight through all her facades, straight through to her battered heart?

Chloe ran to Annie and hopped onto her lap like it was an everyday occurrence. "Aunt Annie?"

"Yeah, love?" she asked. Annie usually didn't shower the people she cared about with terms of endearment, but she couldn't help it with Chloe.

Chloe leaned back against Annie, and Annie slid her arms around her niece easily. Chloe craned her neck to look up into her aunt's eyes. "Can I do the Nativitivity this year?" she asked, a perfectly innocent face twinkling up toward Annie.

Annie smirked, elbowing Auggie in the ribs before he laughed too loudly. "You mean Nativity, dearie?"

The girl's face scrunched up in a confused look. "Yeah. Guess so."

Annie laughed and kissed the crown of her niece's head. "Sure, love. Just be careful, 'kay?"

She nodded, scampering off Annie's lap and toward the top box, made of an intricately carved Nativity scene. Joe Walker, Annie's and Danielle's dad, had made it for her two years before he had passed away. Last year, Katia had set it up. This year, it was Chloe's turn.

Now, Katia was busy discovering all the little Christmas trinkets Annie usually set up around her home at Christmastime—candles, a Santa figurine, three snowmen, a snow-covered church that lit up when a small candle was placed inside, a wreath. Every few moments, she ohhed and ahhed at each treasure she found, and Annie knew both nieces would be busy for a while. She stood to her feet and tugged Auggie up next to her. "C'mon. That leaves us the Christmas balls."

He cocked a confused, crooked look, and she laughed. "C'mon. We're going to string thread through them and hang them from the ceiling."

A slightly horrified look crossed his face. She was going to make him hang balls from a ceiling? How did she plan on doing that? He would fall and break his head open.

She slapped his shoulder gently and scowled at him. "Don't worry, bright eyes. I'll catch you if you fall."

He flashed her a playful grin, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, goodness gracious, Auggie. Don't get any ideas."

He grinned shamelessly, and she led them to the bed. He slipped his shoes off and sat down, Indian-style. Annie followed suit, placing the box of Christmas balls between them. "Here," she said. "I'll cut the string, and you can thread it through the loops and tie the knot at the top. 'Kay?"

He was already working on his task. He set each ball aside carefully, making sure each string didn't get tangled with others. "Do the girls come over here often?" he asked.

"When I'm home," she replied, handing him another string. "Obviously, when I'm out of town, they are always with Dani and Michael. But I spoil them rotten, and we all know it. They'll come over here for any reason they can come up with." Katia walked over to them, and Annie pulled her into a sideways hug. "Don't you, kiddo?"

Katia flashed them a confused look. "What?"

"Come over here whenever you can."

A blush crept up the little girl's face. "Yeah. You're nicer than Mommy."

Auggie barely held back his laughter while Annie answered her niece's question. Christmas music was playing loud enough that it couldn't be considered _background_ music, and the three girls gave in to singing along. Auggie listened, amused.

Annie had an _awful_ voice. Either that, or she purposely sang awfully. Somehow, it made her more endearing, though. He couldn't believe he'd known her all these months, and he was just finding out about this. He tucked it away, right next to that little bit about Annie leaning against him, to ponder later.

The time passed quickly, and soon they had strung all the balls. Annie found her stepstool ladder and placed it firmly in the middle of the room. "Ready, bright eyes?" she asked.

He groaned. He still couldn't believe she was making him climb a ladder.

He was _blind_, for crying out loud!

She didn't seem to care. He took her hand, using it to help balance himself as he climbed up. She slid her arm around his legs, steadying him, and she handed him the first strung ball, a piece of tape stuck to the top. His legs wobbled a little, but he managed to tape the ball to the ceiling. He wasn't sure he liked getting up on that ladder, but having Annie there, supporting him, pulling him into the wonder of the holiday, made a small smile slide up his face. She helped him down, catching him when he misjudged the last step, and righted him again. _Don't worry, bright eyes. I'll catch you if you fall..._

And she had.

They repeated the process twenty more times, minus the falling, and then Annie pulled them into the corner of the room, so she could survey their work. She slid her arm around his waist, leaning against him familiarly. "It's beautiful," she whispered in wonder.

The sun had already set, and the Christmas lights she had hung around the room reflected off of the balls. Not to mention the trinkets that were now scattered across the room, the Nativity scene taking the place of honor at her coffee table. "Want me to describe it?" she whispered against him.

Sharing this moment with her, a sense of wonder filling him, he would have agreed to skydive, if that's what she had wanted. But sharing even more of this moment with her? "Yeah," he whispered back, not able to figure out a better way to respond to the gentle, heady hope—and just a bit of something else—that was coursing through him.

"The balls hang like crystals, all over the room," she whispered. "They're gold, but they reflect the colors of the Christmas lights. Blue, green, pink, red. Chloe and Katia are dancing underneath them." She sighed softly, taking it all in. "They're like dancing little colorful stars, swaying in the breeze."

He squeezed her shoulder gently, taking it all in. "Thanks, Annie."

She looked up into his face. "Sure… but for what?"

"For making me celebrate Christmas with you. For showing me that image. For being my friend. For not letting me suffer in silence."

She let go of his side and squeezed his hand affectionately before turning to the girls. "I promised your mom I'd feed you before I sent you home. What do you say about Lou's Diner?"

The girls rushed to her and hugged her legs. To the girls, Lou's Diner was better than any other option would have been. They played Christmas music and gave away Christmas cookies and made the best macaroni and cheese in the world.

… or so the girls claimed.

Annie slid her arm through Auggie's and tugged him toward the door. "C'mon. You're gonna love this."

He smirked, but let her lead the way. When they arrived at the diner and slid into their booth, Auggie made sure he got the seat next to Annie.

He wasn't sure why he insisted upon it. But, as she gently teased him during their meal, touched his arm to get his attention, brushed against him as she reached for the salt or ketchup, and laughed at his side, he couldn't say that he regretted the decision. Christmas with Annie, he was starting to decide, was definitely a good thing.


	5. The Tie Requirement

**A/N:** Did anybody see this week's episode of Glee? I just caught it on Hulu, and I can't believe they did "Dog Days Are Over"! I loved their version, but ugh, now I can't wait for CA to come back… I can't believe it's gone till next summer! :/

Also, does anybody know how old Katia and Chloe are? For my story, I'm kinda placing Katia at 11 or 12, and Chloe at 10, and I know Chloe was in third grade, but, well, I'm not sure. So if Katia's a lot younger, then some of the details of this chapter will be a little off. Oh, well. If it's a bit off, I guess I've just gone a little AU, because I think it just works better for this story.

Sorry this one's a bit shorter than normal… I was having many issues figuring out how to say what I wanted to say, and it just wasn't coming out right. I'm satisfied with how it turned out this time, though, so I think I'll leave it. Besides, I think the content makes up for the shortness. :) Please review and let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Covert Affairs isn't mine, or Hallmark, or Borders, or any of the books mentioned… nope. Nothing.

Chapter 5

The Tie Requirement

Monday, 6 December 2010

Wellesley Mall

Auggie climbed out of Annie's car and stretched. It had been a long couple of days at Langley—ensuring Annie stayed safe during a mission to Brazil, breaking codes, dealing with a more-hovering-than-usual Joan—and he was glad that he and Annie finally had the time off to relax.

He hated to admit it, but he was starting to look forward to these Christmas activities she insisted on every day that they could. He knew Annie would gloat if she knew.

Not that he minded that, terribly. He loved spending time with Annie, and she was never self-absorbed, not even when she gloated.

She slid her arm through his. They were at the mall, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. The malls were loud and crowded during the holidays, and that was sure to make it harder to maneuver. Not to mention the fact that he never went to the mall, and he had no idea where anything was.

He felt reassured, though, when Annie warned him about the step up onto the sidewalk and said, "Aug, I know you're not crazy about the mall and shopping, especially around Christmas. If it's too much, just let me know, 'kay? And then we're out of here."

She patted his arm reassuringly and led him into a Hallmark store for a moment, quickly finding a scarf she had spotted a little while ago that she thought Katia would love. She was just starting to get into fashion, and it matched nearly all the pink-and-purple clothes that she was wearing now. She paid for the scarf, and Annie led him across the mall to a JCPenney's. "It's been a running tradition that I always get Michael a tie for Christmas," she explained as they walked. "It's gotten so out-of-control that we all know he'll never wear it, but I still do it anyway."

A small smile lifted the corner of his lips. "Want me to help?" he offered.

She grinned shamelessly at him, flashing him a look that said she couldn't believe he had thought otherwise. "Course, bright eyes." She led him to the tie section confidently, slowing to a stop as she reached for the worst tie she saw on first notice. It was a gaudy, shiny gold paisley design, with flecks of mud-brown and neon orange filling in the spaces. She couldn't believe they would sell something like it.

She slid her arm out of his, and looped the tie around his neck, tying it for him. At first, he was surprised by the intimate gesture, her nearness. She was so close. He could feel the slow cadence of her steady breathing on his face. He remembered when Tash had insisted on tying his ties, before meeting Joan for a briefing. She would pat his chest two times affectionately, then lean in for a kiss… The thought of sharing such an intimate moment with Annie made him weak with desire. He groaned silently and tried to push the thoughts from his mind.

_Did she realize the effect she was having on him?_ He resisted the urge to tug her those few inches closer and claim her lips in a kiss, just to see if it would be as wonderful as all the scenarios firing in his brain.

The affection and interest he had begun to notice four days ago had only increased at Langley all day, as she stopped in to bring him coffee and to ask him the CIA policy on some insignificant issue, and later, when she came to escort him to the meeting in the conference room with Joan, Jai, and a handful of other agents. He tried to push the thoughts aside. This was _Annie_. His best friend, the one person who believed in him, challenged him, encouraged him, more than any other person in the whole world. Why would he throw that away, for a fling?

Somehow, though, he knew that if something happened between him and Annie, it wouldn't be just a fling. There was something good, true, pure, and enduring about the relationship they had. No, if something happened, it would last forever.

That realization didn't help things. In fact, it only made the prospect _more_ appealing. He was grateful when she patted his chest and stepped back to examine her handiwork. "There," she said proudly, her hand slowly dropping to her side, and Auggie forced himself to focus on the subject at hand.

"How do I look?" he asked with a dashing grin.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Horrible. The tie is bad enough as it is, but it clashes really badly with that blue striped shirt you're wearing."

He laughed. "What does this awful tie look like, anyway?"

She laughed, stepping forward to loosen the tie and slide it over his head. "It's this awful, gaudy gold-ish paisley. With neon orange and the most disgusting brown I've ever seen. It's awful," she added again, for good measure.

He laughed good-naturedly. "Is there anything worse?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I dunno. This is pretty awful, Aug."

He folded his arms across his chest, already missing her nearness. It was a heady combination of excitement, trepidation, anticipation, and their shared affection for one another, and he was already addicted to it, he decided. _Why had he never noticed it before?_

"What about a bowtie?" he asked, forcing a mischievous grin. He hoped she couldn't notice that awful bowties was the last thing he wanted to be talking about.

She rummaged through the collection of bowties, not seeming to notice Auggie's inner conflict. She found a clip-on bowtie that was pastel pink and plum purple tie dye, with little Christmas trees scattered across the fabric. The Christmas trees had been tacked on with a few stitches of orange thread. She laughed. "C'mere, Auggie," she called, and he felt his way around the tie display.

She fastened the top button of his shirt and tacked the bowtie on. She laughed out loud, covering her mouth to try and stifle the sound. "Oh, Auggie, I think this one's even worse."

A slow smirk covered his face. "What does this one look like?"

"Light pink and plum purple tie dye. Little Christmas trees tacked on with neon orange thread. This is even awful for a clown tie."

He smirked again. "Maybe you should buy one, and I should buy the other one."

"You're buying them Christmas presents?" she asked curiously. "I just brought you along in my quest to Christmas-ize you. I'm sure they don't expect you to buy them gifts, Aug."

He shrugged. "If I'm going to do this Christmas thing, I might as well do it all the way."

She grinned and slid her arm through his again. She grabbed both ties, and headed for the nearest register. "'Kay, Aug," she said. She smiled as she glanced at him. _He must be getting into this more than I thought._ "Of course, you know this means we need to find him a real gift, too, right?"

He flashed her a look of mock horror. "Why would we do that?"

"Because Michael is a greedy, greedy man," she quipped, and he laughed.

They paid for the ties and Annie guided them to the next store.

Borders. She breathed in deeply. Though she didn't have much time for it anymore, she had always loved to read, and bookstores were some of her favorite places in the world. She had planned to go straight to the sports section, where there was a book she knew Michael had been wanting, or even the children's section, to find a book Katia had been begging for, but when she spotted the classic literature section, she tugged Auggie into the row, searching the shelves almost hungrily. Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Victor Hugo, Baroness Orczy, Louisa May Alcott, the Bronte sisters—they had been some of her best friends as a teenager, always moving before true friendships were forged. She owned most of her favorites, but she couldn't help stopping to remember all the classics that she'd grown up with.

She pulled out a copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_ and slid to the floor, tugging Auggie with her. She leaned her head against his shoulder as she settled in to read for a while. For a moment, his breath hitched in his throat, and then he exhaled slowly, relaxing against her. Annie. Back at his side. He breathed in the smell of her perfume and shampoo, and listened to the soothing sound of her voice as she read. "'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…'"

He could definitely get used to this.

**A/N:** Review, pretty please!


	6. The Candy Cane Lesson

**A/N:** Is it wrong that I'm making Auggie play with his food? Under extreme duress? Couldn't help myself, haha. I always eat candy canes like this, and I figured it'd be fun to see the results of making Auggie try. :)

Sorry if this one's a bit shorter. Maybe it's not, haha, but it feels like it is. I had a tiny little scene driving this one, and I really loved the idea, but trying to pull it out to a couple pages was a bit of a challenge. I hope you like it as much as I do, hehe. Please review and let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer: **Not mine!

Chapter 6

The Candy-Cane Lesson

Tuesday, 7 December 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

Annie leaned her shoulder against the wall and peaked around it. Auggie was entertaining Chloe and Katia, and it was priceless. He was performing magic tricks—with a pack of cards he had found on her coffee table—and the girls were eating it up. _How in the world does he know how to do that?_ she wondered, but she just watched, an amused smile tilting the corners of her mouth.

Over the past week or two, she had watched as her family had slowly embraced and started to love Auggie. She had known they would, after that call when she had been in England with Vivian and Auggie had arranged the tour for Chloe and her class. She had tried to protect Auggie from her family, especially Danielle and her crazy matchmaking plots, but after promising to bring Christmas to Auggie, she couldn't imagine keeping Auggie from her family any longer. They were only friends—and she was glad that was how it was—but she somehow knew that Auggie belonged with her family. Auggie pretended to be a loner—acted like he had it all together—but family-man Auggie was a hundred times better than bachelor Auggie.

She watched as the girls sat on each side of him, leaning against him as they told him about school and dance classes and everything they wanted for Christmas. She wanted to join them—after all, she had brought Auggie over to her guesthouse to make a gingerbread house—but it seemed criminal to break the three up.

Chloe climbed to her feet and grabbed three candy canes from the glass jar on the coffee table, and handed one to Katia and one to Auggie. The two girls quickly unwrapped the long end of the cane, and, with gleeful smiles on their faces, they sucked on the long end.

Auggie, on the other hand, ripped the wrapper back and broke off a piece of the long end. He popped it in his mouth and began to chew it.

Annie watched in amusement as the two girls gasped at him in horror. There was only one way they ate candy canes, and they always insisted that everyone else eat them the same way. They would suck the long end until just a "U" shape was left, and then they'd place the "U" around their teeth, proclaiming, "I have braces!" It had been cute the first few times, but, after that, it had just become a part of the Christmas traditions in the Brooks home.

Apparently, Auggie hadn't received the memo.

Chloe tugged the candy cane from his hands, and Katia exclaimed, "Mr. Auggie!"

A worried look overcome him. "What?" he asked.

Annie felt the urge to rush forward and tell the girls to let him have his candy cane back, to be nice to Auggie—he was a guest—but she wanted to see how this played out. She could scold the girls later.

Chloe rolled her eyes drolly and sighed. Overdramatically. And Annie stifled a laugh. _Why didn't that surprise her?_

"Mr. Auggie, there's only one proper way to eat a candy cane," Katia explained, her tone giving away the fact that she couldn't believe Auggie didn't know it. "First, you have to suck on the long part until it's even with the hooked end. 'Kay?"

Annie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the utterly befuddled look on her best friend's face. "Then what?" he managed to ask.

"Then you stick the hook part around you're teeth! And you have braces!"

Auggie rolled his eyes. "I've already had braces. They're not fun."

Katia and Chloe rolled their eyes at him drolly. "Well, these aren't the _real_ kind, Mr. Auggie! You gotta pretend. Pretend braces are cool," Katia explained.

"And yummy," Chloe added.

"And yummy," Katia echoed. She hopped to her feet and grabbed him a new candy cane. "Here. Try it again."

Annie watched as he sighed and peeled back the wrapper of the new candy cane. Giving in to their demands, he began to suck on the lower end, and the girls beamed back at him with ear-to-ear grins and settled back against him, smug.

_The little boogers,_ Annie thought, watching as Auggie succumbed to his candy-cane-eating fate.

By the time he was almost ready to receive his "candy cane braces," Annie sauntered over to them, grabbing her own candy cane as she came. "You look a bit miserable, Aug," she commented.

"Where were you?" he demanded. "They stole my candy cane from me."

Chloe and Katia grinned up at her, and she rolled her eyes. "I was in the bathroom," she said, knowing Auggie wouldn't buy it. She'd been standing there for over fifteen minutes. She turned her attention to the girls. "Not nice, by the way. Auggie's a guest."

Chloe squirmed under the negative attention, and Katia stared at the ground self-consciously. Not wanting to embarrass them too badly, Annie turned her attention back to Auggie. "So how are your first candy cane braces, there, pal?"

He popped the rest of his candy cane out of his mouth. "Yummy, but uncomfortable."

Annie burst out in laughter. "Uncomfortable?"

"Yeah. My teeth are too big for the candy cane."

The girls turned to look at his face in wonder. "That's impossible!" Chloe exclaimed.

Auggie popped the "braces" back in his mouth, and it popped apart in the middle.

"Oh, no!" the girls exclaimed. Katia jumped up from her seat. "Mr. Auggie, I'll get you a new one."

Annie chuckled. "Kate, I don't think that's gonna help. His teeth aren't going to shrink."

"But he broke his braces!" Chloe protested.

Annie couldn't help it. The girls were being so ridiculously hilarious. "I think it'll be okay," she said, trying to suppress her laughter. "It's happened to me all the time."

"Really?"

"Really," Annie confirmed, and the girls groaned.

A moment later, someone knocked on the front door of the guesthouse, and it creaked open. "Knock-knock," a familiar voice called out, and the girls rose to meet their mother.

Danielle hugged both girls and turned to look at Annie and Auggie. "Thanks for watching the girls while I was gone, Annie," she said.

Annie half-smiled as she looked over at her sister. "No prob," she said. "They were mostly good."

"Mostly?" Danielle asked, eying her girls curiously.

"Mr. Auggie didn't know how to eat a candy cane!" Chloe protested, and Katia echoed, "Yeah!"

Danielle and Annie shared a knowing grin, and Dani ushered the girls' out the door. "Thanks, Annie!" she called, and the girls called out their good-byes as the door closed.

Annie flopped down on the couch next to Auggie, leaning against his shoulder. "Well. That was interesting."

He turned his gaze in her direction. "You were just watching me suffer alone, weren't you?"

She glared at him with mock horror. "Who, me? Why would I do that?"

He smirked. "'Course not. Not Annie, my best friend in the world," he scoffed.

She laughed and slid her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder. "Still up for making that gingerbread house?"

He pressed a button on his watch, and the time was read back to him in a mechanical voice. _5:57 pm_. The night was still early, but he didn't feel up to baking. "Not tonight, Annie. Can we just eat and maybe hang out?"

She glanced at him with a teasing grin. "No wooing the ladies tonight?"

_How did he tell her that the one lady he wanted to impress was sitting right next to him?_ "No," he said, sounding almost dejected. "Dinner and hanging out is about all I feel up to tonight."

She studied him worriedly. "You okay, Aug? I can't believe entertaining the girls took that much out of you."

"Nah," he said. "Just feeling kinda out of it."

He was relieved when she bought it. She filled his thoughts just about all the time, but he wasn't sure if or how he should tell her.

He was relieved when she stood to her feet, and reached down and pulled him up next to her. She leaned up and kissed his cheek affectionately, and he stilled. "C'mon," she said, reaching for his hand and tugging him toward the kitchen. _I'll take care of you, bright eyes._ She didn't want to voice the words, because she was sure Auggie would make light of them.

And she wasn't sure she wanted the teasing banter that carried their friendship to encroach on this. She meant it. And she wasn't sure he would know that.

She sat him at the table as she started pulling out ingredients to make sandwiches for them both. "Thirsty?" she asked as she rummaged through her refrigerator.

"Nah," he replied, and she continued her preparations.

She set a paper plate before him, and sat next to him, placing her own plate before her.

Her knee bumped his, and he felt the worry and sadness roll away. Annie was here, right next to him, pulling him through this holiday that usually held nothing but negative memories.

For tonight, that would have to be enough.


	7. The Mistletoe Dilemma

**A/N:** Ahhh, I've been SO excited to bring this chapter to you for a while… agh. :) You all have had so many questions about the Annie/Auggie dynamic, and I didn't want to give this away… but here it is! I hope it was worth all the build-up, haha.

**Disclaimer:** not mine. Still. Pretty stinkin' sure it'll never be, too.

Chapter 7

The Mistletoe Dilemma

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Brooks Home

Annie snuck a spoonful of the chocolate chip cookie dough from Danielle's bowl. A guilty—but very happy—look came over her face when her sister turned around and glared at her in mock horror. "Annie," she scolded. "Those cookies are for the nursing home down the street!"

Annie gulped down the last bit of the remaining cookie dough. "Sorry! I can't help it. That stuff is just so good!"

Danielle rolled her eyes and slid the pan of cookies into the oven. She set the timer, and turned around to glare at her sister, leaning against the cabinet and folding her arms across her chest. Annie sent her a pleading look, and Dani rolled her eyes. "You know, it's impossible to hate you."

Annie grinned back at her. "I know." She resumed her task of spooning the dough onto the next cookie tray. "You know, Auggie's going to be here in a few minutes. Then you'll be here all by yourself, and you'll wish I _was_ here, stealing your cookie dough."

Dani snorted. "Yeah. Very likely." A secretive, knowing look filled her eyes. "What's going on between the two of you, anyway?"

Annie groaned. She should have known this was going to come up sometime. She and Auggie had always spent a good amount of time together since they met about eight months ago. But until the end of the summer, Dani and the girls hadn't even met Auggie. Since the tour of the Smithsonian, they'd seen him relatively few times. Until Thanksgiving weekend. Now, they saw him nearly every day. "Dani, I told you already. We're just friends. And I just felt bad for him. Nobody to spend Christmas with, not knowing how awesome it can be. I just wanted him to have a good Christmas this year, okay?"

A smug grin was still lingering on her face, and, when the doorbell rang, Annie was ready to spring to the door, eager to get away from that smug knowledge. _It wasn't going to happen. They were just _friends_,_ she insisted silently. Not that Dani would believe her, anyway.

The door was already opened before she could run to the door, though. Michael?

A few moments later, the girls were tugging Auggie into the kitchen. "Mommy! Mommy! Look who came!"

Danielle glanced at Annie knowingly, and Annie rolled her eyes. "Hey, Auggie," the older sister greeted. "Where are you two off to this time?"

Auggie shrugged. "Annie hasn't told me yet."

"We're going to get Christmas lights to hang up around the outside of the guesthouse," she said, torn between still being miffed at her sister, and not letting Auggie catch on to the tiff. She grabbed her purse, reached down to kiss each of the girls, and called out a terse good-bye to her sister.

She slid her arm through Auggie's and tugged him toward the front of the house.

She glanced back behind her, noticing the girls and Dani were following them to the door. _Why were they doing that?_ Still a bit annoyed at her sister, she decided to ignore them. She pushed the door open, and the girls called, "Bye, Aunt Annie!"

Annie paused in the doorway, glancing back at them. Auggie waited next to her. She couldn't help but offer the girls a smile. "Bye. See you in a little bit, okay? You still coming over to help us with the lights?"

They both nodded, wide grins covering their faces.

Annie smiled and turned back to Auggie, heading out the door. "Annie!" Danielle called, and Annie turned around again. _What more could they possibly want?_ she groaned. They were going to be at Walmart for twenty minutes, tops. What couldn't wait that long?

Dani pointed up, and Annie followed her finger. Mistletoe.

Lovely.

Her sister was taking control of her love life. Again. "Mistletoe? Really, Danielle?"

Danielle smiled innocently, and Annie turned to look at Auggie. He looked a bit nervous.

She placed her hand on his chest, gently. "Aug, we don't have to kiss," she said, glancing a bit coldly at Dani. Couldn't she see that her love life had to move at its own pace?

But, by the time she had looked back at her best friend, he was already leaning forward, and, before she knew what was happening, his arms were around her, holding her, and his lips were on hers, moving hungrily, as if he had wanted this for a very long time. And yet, he was treating her with the utmost care, as if he knew how broken her heart had been in the past, and he didn't want to break it more.

Her heart lurched in her chest. _Would it really be so bad, to love Auggie?_ She reached up, her arms going around his neck easily. He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

She couldn't believe how incredibly _right_ it felt. Kissing Auggie was like… heaven.

He pulled back slowly, and she leaned her forehead against his, catching her breath. He reached up, caressing her cheek, before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and she stilled. She stared deep into his eyes, seeing all his worry and love. _Auggie?_

Even if she had dreamed about it, this wouldn't have been in the wildest of them.

Chloe and Katia giggled, and she pulled her gaze away from Auggie in time to see the girls scampering off, while Danielle flashed Annie a knowing grin.

She turned, slid her arm around Auggie's waist, and led them out the door. "C'mon, Auggie," she whispered. She pulled the door shut behind her, and she stopped along the sidewalk when Auggie came to a halt. "Annie?" he asked, his voice full of hope, worry, and love.

It was breaking her heart. "Not now, Aug," she pled. "We can talk later, 'kay? I need to process this."

She saw him quickly mask the forlorn look that flashed across his face, and it felt like a sucker-punch to her gut. _What was there to think about?_ she berated herself. _It's _Auggie_. You know him. You know he won't leave you with some cryptic note. And you know you want this._

Still, she couldn't bring herself to talk to him about it. She had just been kissed. By Auggie.

And oh, man, she could barely think straight.

She silently led him to the passenger door of her car, and she walked around, climbing into the driver's seat. He silently clicked his seatbelt in place, and stared straight ahead, waiting for her to leave the driveway.

She reached out, to squeeze his arm, to let him know that nothing had changed, that she was still his Annie, still would fight for him to the death. She pulled her hand back at the last moment, though. What right did she have to tell him it was okay, when she couldn't tell him that she would be his girl?

No right. None whatsoever.

She started her car, and backed out of the driveway.

She stole glances at him, the rest of the evening. At Walmart, in the check-out line, on the way back home, while he and the girls decorated the bushes and trees around the guesthouse, as they ate supper, side-by-side, in the Brooks home, and later, as she drove him back to his apartment.

That night, as she hid under the covers of her bed, trying to find sleep, she reached for her cell phone. She glanced through her pictures. The first one was of her and Auggie, during their first mission together. Beaming in front of the morgue, her arm through his. _Was it crazy that she missed him? That she could still feel his lips, moving over hers?_

She groaned. _Did she see it too late?_ She glanced at the clock. 1:41. Even Auggie, who usually stayed up late, wouldn't appreciate a call at this hour.

She turned the photo on her nightstand to face her. A newer picture of her and Auggie, at some occasion she couldn't even remember. She switched off the lamp by her bed, hoping Auggie could wait a couple more hours.

Because, now that the idea of being Auggie's girl was so deeply rooted in her heart, she didn't know if she could take it if he couldn't.

**A/N:** Review, pleaseeee! (And happy weekend!)


	8. The Christmas Trip

**A/N:** Oh, how cruel am I? Sorry, I truly didn't mean to make you wait a WHOLE weekend with that cliffy, haha, but work and my little sister's Christmas pageant got in the way. I actually had most of this written last night, but just before I went to bed, I realized I was unhappy with half of it. So… yeah. One weekend later, here it is. Hope the changes were an improvement, haha.

And ugh, I'm afraid I painted myself into an angst-ey corner. :/ Loved it when I wrote the last chapter, but now I'm unsure if this result was too easy. That, and it's eerily un-Christmasy themed. But I figured the Annie/Auggie relationship needed further development, and it just seemed to work better this way. Please review and let me know what you think.

And if you HAVE been to Longwood Gardens during Christmas, sorry if this isn't accurate. I'm going off of the pictures my brother showed me when he went last year… and the pictures I found on the internet. I have never been there, although I would very much like to, so it was a bit of a challenge. I hope it came out okay, though.

Ah, and I've been meaning to say, LostSchizophrenic, since you didn't sign your review, I couldn't reply to your question through a PM, but I figured everyone could benefit from it. You asked if Auggie lost his sight or got kicked out first, correct? How it was planned in my mind, anyway, was that he went off, lost his eyesight, came home to recover a bit, and to celebrate Christmas with his family, and something set off his dad… huge fight… and, well, Auggie ended up packing his bags and never looking back. I never really planned that Auggie's dad forced him to leave, exactly, but Auggie just got fed up and couldn't take it any longer. Important information, I guess, b/c it's going to be dealt with in the last five or so chapters. So that's that. :)

And ugh, I'm so very sorry about this interminably LONG author's note, haha—but without further ado…

**Disclaimer:** Not mine!

Chapter 8

The Christmas Trip

Thursday, 9 December 2010

DPD

Annie pulled her wool coat tighter around her slim form as she walked into the DPD. It was 6:37 in the morning. _Nobody_ should be working this early, and yet, here she was.

Her footsteps echoed across the empty bullpen, and she studied the open room, so different with the lights dimmed and no one to fill the room with officiousness and duty. She dropped off her coat and purse at her desk and headed toward tech ops.

She had tossed and turned all night, not being able to get Auggie from her head. The later in the pre-dawn hour it got, the more crazy it seemed to call Auggie. At the same time, the closer it got to daylight, the more she _wanted_ to call him.

She came to a stop a few feet from tech ops, watching Auggie work, his headphones draped around his neck, his eyes staring sightlessly straight ahead. She had known he was always early to work, but she hadn't known if he would be here this early. She was glad he was.

Her heart thudded inside of her chest as she watched him type away at his keyboard, and she wondered, _What am I, fourteen?_

Pushing aside her regrets, she pushed the door open. "Auggie?" she whispered hesitantly.

He turned toward her, his chair swiveling in her direction. He turned his face up to her, and it was uncanny how close he was to looking straight into her eyes. "Annie?" he asked, and he wanted to groan at the cursed hope he heard in himself. He forced the next words out. "What are you doing here so early?"

She swallowed hard. "I, ah… I had some paperwork to finish up. And I had talked to Joan earlier about taking the afternoon off, because I had tickets for us to go to Longwood Gardens today," she said lamely.

"Longwood Gardens?" he asked.

"Yeah," she gulped. "It's in Pennsylvania. They have this amazing Christmas light display." She paused. "I—I know you wouldn't be able to see it, but I wanted to share it with you, anyway," she finished weakly.

"Oh," Auggie managed to reply. _Was she really not going to say anything about that kiss? Still?_ "Annie…"

Her gaze snapped back to him. "Yeah?"

"Why—why did you come to see me? This early?"

Her heart thudded in her chest. She slowly walked over to his desk, resting her hip against its side. "Because—because I couldn't sleep," she said wearily. "I kept thinking about that kiss."

She could see every tender, protective emotion flashing openly across his face, and she couldn't believe she had made him wait this long. "Auggie—I… ah," she paused, trying to form the words. _Was it really this hard to say?_

She reached over and squeezed his hand, glad when he didn't pull away. "I'm scared to death of another relationship. I think that's why I tried to deny it for so long. But I'm even more scared of not going for this."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Annie?"

She half-cried, half-laughed, at the hopeful expression covering his face. She leaned in, brushing her lips against his. He kissed her back, hungrily, as if his life had been a desert since he had kissed her last. His hand slid up her arm and around her neck, tugging her closer. Her hand—the one not balancing her between the desk and tumbling into Auggie's lap—snaked up to his face and cradled it. Clean-shaven. Strong jaw. Mmmm.

Kissing Auggie was _heaven_. How had she gone so long without even considering it?

Regretfully, she pulled back, and she couldn't help beaming like a fool at Auggie's hopeful, confused, adorable face.

"Seriously, Annie?"

She laughed then. "Really, Aug?" she asked. "That's all you can think of after our second kiss?"

He blushed profusely, and she couldn't believe he did that, either. Somehow, seeing Auggie blush was incredibly endearing. She scooped up his closest hand into her own, entwining their fingers. "For real, Aug."

She paused, memorizing the open expression on his face as she tried to find the words to say. "We gotta take it slow, though, 'kay?" she whispered. "After Ben, and finding out Jai was just trying getting close to me because of Ben, I don't think I can take another whirlwind romance."

He squeezed her hand gently and winked in her general direction. _How was it possible that such a simple action could melt her heart?_ Auggie was good for her. In more ways than she could have ever imagined.

She leaned down to brush her lips against his once more, pulling away before either of them were ready to. "I gotta go finish this paperwork," she whispered regretfully. "You better be ready to leave at noon sharp." She stopped when she reached the door, pausing to glance at him one last time before leaving tech ops for the moment.

She smiled as the dazed expression on his face morphed into a grin, meant for her alone.

Noon could not come fast enough.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

The ride up to Kennett Square passed quietly. Auggie, whose night had been spent in a similar fashion to Annie's, fell asleep moments after they had pulled out of Langley, despite his best intentions.

Annie had been disappointed—after their admissions a couple of hours ago, she had been looking forward to spending time with Auggie, but she knew there was time for that later. Besides, stealing glances at him sleeping, there was _no_ way she would wake him up purposefully. He looked so peaceful, like he didn't daily war with demons.

She knew he downplayed it, but she also knew him. Being blind hadn't been easy for him, and he always fought for what he wanted. As he slept, all those worries and demands slipped away. He was just Auggie, wonderful Auggie.

When she stopped for gas at the halfway point, she bought Auggie some peanut M&Ms when she bought herself a bag of Twizzlers. If he did wake up soon, she figured he might enjoy his favorite chocolate candies.

Tucking his snack into her purse for safekeeping, she turned on her car and glanced at Auggie one final time. He had shifted while she had been in the shop. He had been resting against the window, his hands curled under his head as a pillow. Now, he had tilted over towards her, his head hanging off the side of the seat, his left arm flung into the empty space between them. She smirked, amused, and intertwined their fingers. She wanted to push his head back onto the seat, so he wouldn't have a howling crick in his neck when he woke, but she didn't know how to do that without waking him. "Aug…"

He didn't seem to notice, and she pulled back onto the road. They would be there soon, anyway.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Despite the quiet Annie had faced on the drive up, Auggie more than made up for it during their early dinner at a Taco Bell they found in Wilmington, a small while from their destination. "Aug," Annie had whispered, waking him, and he stirred groggily, trying to determine his surroundings. His line of sight zeroed in on the hand in his. Then he relaxed. "Annie," he said, not surprised, but almost relieved.

She grinned. "Mornin', sleepin' beauty."

He chuckled, sitting up fully, his muscles popping as he stretched. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Wilmington," she replied. "I figured we'd get dinner before we get there."

"Mmm," he hummed in reply. He climbed out of the passenger seat, and Annie met him around the front of the car.

As they ordered, and later ate, Auggie carried much of the conversation, entertaining her with episodes of "The Adventures of the Tech Heroes." Annie laughed at the stories of Stu and Barber and all of Auggie's "minions," and Auggie reveled in the sound of her laughter. It was like healing medicine for his soul.

Soon, they continued to Kennett Square. As they walked through the displays, hand-in-hand, they took turns describing what they experienced. First, Annie would describe the colors, the lights, the plants, the arrangements. Then, they would sit for a while, and they would close their eyes and listen.

On the way home, Auggie managed to keep himself awake, alternating between his cup of coffee and his M&Ms, as he kept Annie company. When they returned to DC, Annie dropped Auggie off, and regretfully returned to her guesthouse, too tired—and happy—to try and make much conversation. As she slid beneath the covers of her bed, she smiled.

That night, she had no problems at all falling asleep.

**A/N:** Review, please!


	9. The Ornament Maker

**A/N:** Here's the next chapter! And ohhh, I had so much fun writing it. Not sure why. But I loved it. I hope you love it, too.

Just so everyone knows, I'm thinking about slowing down the pace of when I post… For the next week or so, anyway. Finals start a week from today, and I should probably focus on them, haha. Besides, as their relationship progresses, I want to make sure it's perfect, and I'd really like to be finished with this around Christmas Day. Just seems more fitting.

Also, thanks to for the idea for the ornament. I love artsy stuff, and I've been told I'm a pretty good artist, but I couldn't have come up with the idea, haha.

**Disclaimer:** Not mineeee.

Chapter 9

The Ornament Maker

December 10, 2010

Tech Ops

Annie tiptoed into tech ops, having purposely left her stilettos at the door. Sneaking up on Auggie wasn't easy, but she had decided to try, anyway. Tiptoeing up behind him, she slid her hands around to cover his eyes, and leaned in close to his ear. "Guess who," she whispered.

He reached up to his eyes, feeling the hands that covered them, and slowly slid his hands up her arms, studying them as he went. "Annie," he finally said, an easy grin filling out his features.

Truth be told, he had known it was her the moment she tiptoed into the room. Annie was the _only_ one who would try and sneak up on him, and he had smelled Jo Malone Grapefruit from halfway across the room.

No one else would have smelt it from that far away, but that scent could only mean good things for him. He had pretended not to notice, curious as to what she was up to.

She removed her hands from his face and turned his chair to face her. Placing her hands on the armrests of his swivel chair, she leaned in, brushing her lips against his. Slowly, she pulled away.

"What was that for?" he whispered, still mesmerized.

She grinned, still only inches from his face. "Just because," she said. "Are you almost ready to go?"

He turned his chair to face his computer once more and stored what he was doing. Logging off, he reached for his cane in the top drawer of his desk and turned to face her. "C'mon," he said. "Let's go."

She slid her arm around his waist as they left the DPD, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively, tugging her close. "So what are we doing today?" he asked, and he could feel her head turning as she turned to look at him.

"We're making Christmas ornaments," she said with an easy grin. "With Chloe and Katia."

He scowled at her playfully. "How is it that you expect me to do all these things that only a _seeing_ person should ever be made to do?"

She laughed. Reaching up, she kissed his jaw affectionately. "Don't worry, Aug, I'll help you."

He smiled in return. Annie was good for him. She pushed him to do things even he didn't know he wanted to do. He never would have imagined he would make Christmas ornaments two and a half years after he lost his sight, but he couldn't say he minded. Now that they were officially dating (and Annie had promised that their trip to Longwood Gardens had been their first date), Annie's gentle encouragement and friendship had turned into a sweet confidence that fueled him. He wanted to be the man Annie saw in him.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 10, 2010

The Brooks Home

When Annie pushed open the door to Dani's house and they stepped into the foyer area, two little forms thudded into Annie and Auggie.

Annie smirked at Auggie's groan. "Why didn't you warn me?" he hissed, and she laughed at his ear.

One of the girls grabbed one of each of their hands, and they dragged the older pair of the foursome to the table. Annie smirked at her nieces' enthusiasm. "Just hold on a sec, okay?" she said, guiding Auggie to a seat at the dining room table.

After he was seated, she took the Michaels' bag and set it down between Auggie and the girls. "Okay. For each ornament, you need 72 buttons, okay?" She pulled the green and red buttons out of the plastic bag and gave it to Chloe to open. When she did, Annie took a handful and handed it to Auggie to count out his buttons.

As they counted out their buttons, Annie cut and shaped the wire to the correct length, handing one wire each to Katia, Chloe, and Auggie. After getting them started, she slipped into the seat next to Auggie. "How's it going, bright eyes?" she asked with a tender smile, watching him work.

He sent her a teasing scowl, but kept working. He never would have figured himself to be the type of person to be making Christmas ornaments with his girlfriend—yes, girlfriend! He could barely believe it himself—and her two nieces. And yet, he found himself enjoying the feel of the buttons in his fingers as they slid onto the wire. He might not be able to "see" the finished product, but he was glad Annie had chosen an ornament that his fingers could appreciate. Had she thought of him when she had picked their project?

She leaned in, next to him, sharing his space, and he leaned over, kissing the crown of her head, hoping the girls hadn't noticed. "I'm never going to finish your precious ornament, Miss Walker, if you keep invading my space," he threatened teasingly.

She laughed, slipping her arm around his, hugging him close. "Shh. Be nice. The girls are looking at you funny."

As if on cue, the two girls scrunched up their noses and complained, "Ewwww."

Annie laughed into his arm, and he groaned at the guilty look he knew was lingering on his face.

Annie turned to them. "Let me see?" she asked, and the girls proudly held up their artwork.

She smiled in approval. She noticed that Chloe had all green buttons while Katia's buttons were all red. Peering around his arm, she noticed that Auggie had a near-even mix of the two colors. "I like yours better," she whispered conspiratorially while the girls worked, and he grinned smugly.

Chloe left the table for a few moments to lug the portable radio into the room, and she turned on an all-Christmas radio station. The girls sung along—missing a good many of the notes and lines—while Annie hummed melodically next to him. How was it possible that she sang so horribly, but her hum sounded like an angel?

As the girls finished threading their buttons onto the wire, Annie tied the wire into a loop, creating a button-wreath. She let them tie the loop that would serve to hang the ornament, and she tied the bow at the top of the wreath, completing the ornament.

The girls ran off, hanging their ornaments, excitedly making plans for the following weeks of Christmas, and they headed off to their rooms, secretive looks in their eyes.

"What are they up to now?" Auggie asked, and Annie laughed.

"I don't even want to know," she replied, helping Auggie finish off his ornament. As she handed it back to him, she asked, "What are you going to do with yours?"

He shrugged. "Not sure yet." He held onto it, though, as if it meant something to him. As they ate a late supper with Dani, Michael, and the girls, he kept it close.

When Annie took him home at 8:00, after he explained to her that he had some research to do for a mission the next day, he took the ornament with him. After Annie told him good-bye, she forgot about it. The next morning, though, when she picked him up, she found it hanging from a nail on his wall, and she couldn't help but smile.

**A/N:** Review, please!


	10. The Figure Skater

**A/N:** Well, here it is! Many of you were asking for an ice skating chapter. Truth be told, this has been one of my favorite ideas for a while, but it's finally here! I'm so excited to share this with you, haha. I hope it comes across as awesome as the scene in my mind was. :)

And really, I promise I'm trying to keep myself from doing a scene at tech ops/DPD and then doing the Christmas activity, but I thought the backdrop of this day needed more explanation, so voila! :) But hopefully it won't happen too much, because the pattern is already starting to annoy me, haha. Don't know if anybody else noticed it, but I did. :)

And for this chapter, the place is real, but not the hours. :/ So I kinda tweeked it, because the location and pictures looked perfect, but definitely not the timing, haha.

Oh, and special thanks to Beth – Geek Chic, who gave me the idea behind Auggie's "straight-laced shell." Perfect way to describe Auggie, I think, and I'm glad she mentioned it to me in my first story. :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine!

Chapter 10

The Figure Skater

December 11, 2010

Tech Ops

9:41 pm. Annie stifled a yawn just before she reached tech ops. Joan's surprisingly kind words still rang in her ears. _Go home, Annie. Get some rest. You did good work today._ Before she had had a chance to leave, Joan had added, "And take Auggie with you." She and Auggie had not decided to keep their relationship a secret, but they also weren't broadcasting it across the CIA. Had Joan found out already?

It wouldn't surprise Annie. The woman had eyes and ears everywhere. Somehow, she found out about just about _everything_.

The case Auggie had gone home fairly early the night before to work on had blown wide open overnight, and they had been called in early. They had been working straight through the day, trying to gain an edge on the Greek arms dealer, and they had finally caught a break about an hour ago. Jai and another agent were on their way to Italy to intercept the man.

At the moment, there was nothing else for Annie and Auggie to do, and Annie was grateful. It had been a long day.

She knocked on the door to Auggie's office as she pushed it open. He was listening to something through his headphones, a deeply focused look covering his features. His fingers were flying across his keyboard. _Was he always this dedicated to saving the world?_ she wondered, finding it hard to keep her smile from covering her face.

She slowly walked to his side and touched his arm. "Aug?"

He stilled the movements on his keyboard, and slid the headphones off one ear. He turned to face her voice. "Annie?"

She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Yeah. C'mon, Aug. It's time to go. It's almost ten."

He turned back to his computer screen. "I'm almost ready," he said, dedication and focus forcing his lips in a straight line. "Just have to finish this algorithm…"

"C'mon, Auggie," she said, tugging at his arm gently. "It can wait. I'm exhausted. And Joan told me to make sure I take you with me. Let's just go. You can save the world tomorrow, 'kay?"

He turned off his computer and stood to his feet, still distracted by the advanced algorithms and processes firing in his brain, faster than he could type them out. He was going to lose the line of thought. Then, the bad guy would get away. _Not on his wat—_

She slipped into his arms after he shrugged into his coat, and he breathed in the smell of grapefruit, holding her close. "I missed you today," she whispered, and slowly, those algorithms began to slide away. Everything faded away with Annie in his arms.

"Missed you, too," he admitted, thinking back to the long, frustrating hours spent trying to find long-buried information. Jai was on his way to catch him, and Barber was his handler for the mission. Why, exactly, was he so worried about those algorithms?

His thoughts returned to Annie, snuggling into his arms. Usually, she popped into his office, unexpected, a couple times a day, when she wasn't on a foreign op. Today, though, she had been strangely absent. Then again, they had all been scrambling to bring Nikolaus Petrakis to justice.

She rested in his arms for a couple moments. After a long day, a hug from Auggie was more incredible than she ever would have imagined. Before they had begun dating, their relationship had been fairly physical. Walking, arm-in-arm, through the hallways of Langley. Touching his arm to let him know she was leaving. Even that kiss to his cheek before she and Ben had gone off to Sri Lanka for the second time. They had rarely hugged, though, and being wrapped in Auggie's strong, protective arms made her feel incredibly safe.

She stayed there, tucked in the corner of his arm, as they made their way to her little red car.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 11, 2010

Sculpture Garden Ice Skating Rink at The National Gallery of Art

Annie slowed her car in the nearly-empty street when she saw the outdoor ice skating rink. Ice skating had always held a special importance in her heart. Her parents had insisted that she take lessons when she was younger, and she had actually been a fairly good figure skater, winning awards until a knee injury caused her to retire from the competitions when she was seven.

But her parents had encouraged her to keep up with the sport for fun, and after all these years, she still had. She remembered fondly the times her father had returned from his deployments and had taken her ice skating.

Despite the late hour, the rink was still open, and the memories tugged at her. It was nearing Christmas. The rink was right there, and she wanted to share this moment with Auggie. Had he skated before?

She found the nearest exit and tried to find a parking spot. Even at this late hour, it wasn't easy, but she managed to find one half a block from the rink.

When Auggie realized she was stopping, he turned to her. "What are we doing?" he asked curiously, knowing it was too soon to be arriving at his apartment.

She studied him curiously. Somehow, she couldn't imagine a wobbly Auggie on skates. "Have you ever been ice skating before?" she asked.

He groaned and threw her a sarcastic look. "Really, Annie? I thought you said you were tired." He paused. "_Exhausted_, if I remember correctly."

She grinned at him. "I guess that is a no."

"No, I've skated before. Just not since… Tikrit."

She reached over and entwined their fingers. "C'mon, Auggie. Please? I haven't been skating in months. And I've missed it. My dad… he used to take me all the time when I was little. And I want to share this with you. We don't have to stay long. Just a little? Please?"

He sighed and slowly reached to unbuckle his seatbelt. Annie grinned in satisfaction.

The rink was nearly empty—just a young couple getting ready to leave—so they paid and received their skates fairly quickly. Annie led them to a bench, and she easily laced her skates before turning to see Auggie's progress. He had done a fair job, but he had missed a few loops, and the laces were a little loose. She reached for the laces in his hands. "Aug, let me do it," she offered.

He handed the laces to her, and she expertly laced them for him. As she finished, she leaned up against his knees and met his lips in a brief kiss.

"C'mon, soldier boy," she said, reaching for his hand as she stood to her feet.

He let her pull him up, wobbling a little, and Annie steadied him with an easy smile. She warned him about the little lip in the ground between the ice and the sidewalk, and she stepped onto the ice.

He followed, slipping a little at first, but quickly righting himself. They circled the rink twice, slowly, and Annie was surprised by how quickly he adjusted to the ice. Then again, Auggie excelled at everything. Why not ice skating, too?

As they finished their third lap, Auggie stopped her with a hand to her arm, and she glanced at him. His eyes sparkled mischievously. _What was he up to?_ "Race ya," he offered, barely containing his grin, and she couldn't help but laugh nervously.

"Are you sure, Auggie?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm serious. I can run. And we've just proven I can still ice skate. Why not race, too?"

She rolled her eyes. The daredevil in him sometimes worried her. What if he got hurt? But those chocolate eyes were pleading, like he wanted this more than just about anything in the world, and how could she deny him that?

She leaned over and brushed a brief, worried kiss against his own lips. "Fine. But Aug, you better not fall and split your head open. Or I'll never talk to you again," she threatened, a light attempt at humor. They both knew she wouldn't leave his side until he was out of the woods, should such a horror happen.

He smirked at her, squeezing her hand affectionately. "I promise not to crack my skull open," he said seriously. "If I do, you can disown me."

She rolled her eyes and shoved his closest arm. When he started to slide to the left, she reached out to pull him back, horrified.

He laughed at her. "Are you ready to race or not?" he asked as he slid into position.

Rolling her eyes, she followed suit.

"On your mark," Auggie called out into the still night air, "get set… Go!"

Annie's feet pushed against the ice effortlessly as she flew across the rink. The feel of the icy night air flowing around her felt so liberating. She glanced over at Auggie, gaining on her. She dug into the ice, faster, faster, but by the time she reached the opposite edge of the rink, letting the wall absorb the brunt of her momentum, she realized Auggie had already come to a stop, a good many seconds in front of her. _How had he done that?_

He was feeling against the wall, trying to find her, and when he felt one of her hands, he tugged her into his arms, kissing her slowly. When he pulled back, he bumped their foreheads together before letting them rest that way. "Beat you," he whispered, and she laughed quietly.

Being with Auggie was quickly becoming very addicting.

A few moments later, he reached for her hand, leading her around the rink. As they skated around the rink, hand-in-hand, she told him what she could about her day. Jai's feeble attempts at yet another apology for what he had done to her, Dani's call in the middle of the day, the entertainment Barber and Stu had provided during a briefing around two in the afternoon, the email from the girls about their next Christmas activity.

That easy chemistry they'd shared since the day they met had only intensified since their first kiss. They were still best friends, on top of their budding love, and there was no one she wanted to share her life, her laughter, with more than Auggie. That feeling had only intensified in the past couple of days.

The night was beautiful, and seeing that content smile lingering on Auggie's face only made the night better. He would have stayed at work until midnight, working on that algorithm, but she was glad he hadn't. That committed, straight-laced soldier was still a strong part of him, it appeared. She loved that he was such a hero, so committed to rescuing every soul, but it broke her heart that he felt that he had to save _every_ soul.

As the employee called out to them that it was quitting time, she leaned against Auggie as she led them to their bench. As they walked to her car, he scooped her hand up in his, and she began to hum a Christmas carol. After he pulled open the passenger door, she walked around to the driver's seat, wondering what it was that made Christmas so magical.

**A/N:** Aughhh, sorry about the ending… I figured I needed to post this, if I'm going to finish around Christmas day, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to end this. It sounds so cheesy to me, lol, so I hope didn't come across as awful. I LOVED the rest, though, haha. Hope you liked it, too! Review and let me know what you think!


	11. The French Christmas

**A/N:** Oh, how I wish this place really existed. How am I able to create such awesome institutions in my own head? A restaurant in Santa's Workshop? Perfect Christmas idea, if you ask me, haha. I'm still waiting to find that cozy bookstore originating in my head that gives away bagels (with cream cheese!) and hot cocoa for free. :) My ideas may not be that profitable, lol, but they would be stinkin' AWESOME if they existed, no?

I switched the order of some of the scenes up a little bit from my original design, but I figured it was high time Auggie took Annie on a proper date, hehe.

**Disclaimer:** Not Mine!

Chapter 11

The French Christmas

December 12, 2010

Joyeux Noel

Annie stared, in wonder, up at the building in front of her. Two stories of Christmas bliss.

She glanced at Auggie, who was glancing in her general direction, a proud smirk turning up the corners of his lips. He knew he had done well, and she rolled her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug look off his face, but the man had just introduced her to Christmas. Like it was the _first_ Christmas.

The two-story cottage was decorated with lights, garland, and smells only Christmas should bring with it. It was the best-looking rendition of Santa's Workshop that she'd ever seen. In a Victorian-style, the words _Joyeux Noel_ were scripted on a sign above the door.

_Joyful Christmas_.

When Auggie had asked her over lunch if he could take her out on a proper date, she couldn't refuse. Now, she was glad she hadn't. The place was magical. How had formerly Humbug Auggie found this place? "This is amazing, Auggie!" she whispered in awe.

Next to her, he chuckled. "Can we go eat, now?"

Reluctantly, she stole her eyes away from the sight. "Okay," she replied, and he reached out for her hand. She went to him willingly, and they stepped out of the cold into the warmth of the restaurant inside.

Auggie led them up to the _maître d' like he'd been to the place a hundred times, and, after the young man responded, "Yes?" Auggie announced, "Reservation for Anderson."_

_The man reached for two menus—Annie noticed one was in Braille—and guided them to a nearby table. Auggie even instinctively reached for Annie's chair and held it out for her. __Who said chivalry was dead?_

_When their waitress arrived, they ordered their drinks—peppermint hot cocoa for Annie and dark chocolate cocoa for Auggie—and the waitress disappeared so they could consult their menus._

_Auggie grinned up at her. "So," he said mischievously. "How'd I do?"_

_She grinned across the table at him. She hated to boost his already-monstrous ego, but he had done good. __Really__ good. "Okay. You did pretty good," she finally admitted._

_He grinned in return. "Thank you."_

_For the majority of the meal, he teased her, loving to hear her grin—but loving her laughter even more. When he was with Annie, he felt like he was a schoolboy again, experiencing his first crush. Alive. Whole. Petrified. Most of all, giddy with happiness. Would the rest of his life be like this?_

_Not that he was complaining. December 2010 was quickly becoming his favorite month out of his whole life._

_"Whatcha thinkin' about?" she asked softly, resting her forearms on the table, leaning in. She had been studying him for a while—he had felt it—but now her gaze softened._

_He reached out, feeling for her face. He cupped her jaw tenderly. Leaning in, he whispered, "You," before he met her lips in a tender kiss that sent shivers up his spine._

_Annie was the girl that every guy didn't even dare to dream about. Somehow, now she was his. He still couldn't believe it._

_The room erupted into applause, the staff (dressed as elves, of course) whistling and clapping, and Annie ducked into the corner between his neck and his shoulder. Demure, too? Somehow, it didn't really fit his image of Annie, but yet, it was oh-so-endearing. He wrapped his arm around her thin shoulders protectively until the applause died down._

_Soon, they finished their Christmas-tree-shaped pancakes, and Auggie paid. As they walked out of the restaurant, Annie's arm tucked around his waist, his arm around his shoulder protectively, she reached up and kissed his jaw gently. "Thank you for tonight," she said softly, and he kissed her temple affectionately._

_"No problem, babe," he whispered in reply, not even noticing the term of endearment._

_Glancing up at him in interest, she asked, "Babe?"_

_"What?" he asked, looking confused._

_She leaned in closer to his side. "You just called me babe," she prodded._

_"Did I?" he asked._

_She giggled. "Yeah, Auggie, you did."_

_"Huh," he said, a semi-proud, amused look crossing his face. Then he remembered that she was asking him about it, wanting to know what it meant. "Well," he said, pausing for effect, "I think I should be able to call you any term of endearment I so desire, if you're gonna be my girl."_

_"Who said I was going to be your girl?" she teased, looking up at him affectionately as they ambled down the street._

_"Well, are you my girl?" he countered, stopping and turning her to face him, so her eyes were locked with his._

She angled up onto her tiptoes to press a tender, confident kiss to his lips. "'Course I'm your girl, silly."

He reached out, pulling her in close again, as his lips met hers in a passionate kiss. Her hands came up to his face before they tangled in his hair, bringing him closer. He smiled into the kiss, deepening it. She pulled away first, breathless, resting her forehead against his as she stared into his endless chocolate eyes.

He took a few deep breaths, becoming aware of everything _Annie_ that surrounded him—the feel of her in his arms, her grapefruit perfume, the way she was lighting up his life, her gentle, spunky beauty he didn't need to see to know. "If you're my girl, I think I should be able to call you babe," he whispered.

She pressed a soft, trusting kiss to his lips. "Deal," she said. "Can we go for a walk?" she pled.

He slid his arm around her waist, and she guided them down the road. "Okay," he agreed. A few moments later, he asked, "Tell me what it looks like? Are there lots of Christmas decorations?"

Annie smiled up at him. "Mmm hmm," she hummed. "Do you feel the electricity in the air?" she asked, voice filled with awe.

"I thought that was just left-over from the kiss back there," he joked, and she rolled her eyes, nudging his hip with hers.

"It's Christmas air," she said, her voice full of awe, "and it's magical…"

**A/N:** Sorry if this isn't edited as well as some of the other chapters… I just had a really great idea for this chapter, and I wanted to get it out to you… and I have a TON of Christmasy things to do over the weekend. To keep on schedule to finish by Christmas time, I'm desperately trying to do a post a day, but we'll see how it goes!

Please review and let me know what you think! I think this is my new favorite chapter, hehe, I think they just get better as we go, lol.

Happy Christmas!


	12. The Movie Night

**A/N:** Ughh… sorry for the delay! I completely planned to have this posted by midnight! At the latest. Ugh. Something attacked my hard drive as soon as I got home from my sister's Christmas band concert tonight, and it took quite longer than I expected. But it was fixed. Which makes me oh-so-glad. :) I think my computer is safe now. I hope. :/ Sorry for the rambling and the strange emoticons, haha, it REALLY freaked me out. I seriously thought I'd lost everything. Soooo glad I didn't, though! (I bet you are, too, because I didn't lose the rest of my outline for this story!)

And I'm so sorry about all the strange italics in the middle of the last chapter… Guess it was carried over from getting the accent for "maitre d'", but it didn't show up in my Word doc, so I'm a bit confused, haha. I'm glad that was pretty much the only issue with it, though—I have never posted something without editing it again, ugh, so I was really unsure of its reception. Glad you all liked the last chapter, though!

And ah, onto the next chapter. :) Sorry about the enormous A/N. Hope you like-ey (the story, that is)!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

Chapter 12

The Movie Night

December 13, 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

Annie glanced at the clock mounted on the kitchenette wall as she dried her hands on the hand towel hanging at the end of the counter. 8:07 pm. When a knock came at her door, she dropped the towel on the counter before heading to the front entryway.

By the time she got there, though, her guest was already standing just inside the door. Auggie.

_Was it crazy that her heart was starting to melt at the sight of him?_

She walked over to him. "Hey," she whispered before leaning up to meet his lips in a gentle kiss, her hands resting lightly on his arms.

When she pulled away, a small smile played on his lips. "Hey to you, too," he replied.

She reached for his hand, leading them to the kitchen. She deposited him at a barstool by the counter. "Have you eaten yet?" she asked, ladling out two mugs of hot apple cider she had just made from scratch.

"A little," he replied. "But Annie, don't worry about it. I'm fine…"

Half a moment later, his stomach growled loudly, and Annie giggled. "Is a sandwich okay?"

He groaned. "Yeah, a sandwich is fine," he said.

She slid the mug she'd gotten for him over to where he was sitting at the counter. "Here. Hot apple cider. Just finished making it." She watched as he lifted the warm liquid to his lips. "Careful," she cautioned. "It's hot."

He looked up at her with an amused light in his eyes before tasting his first sip. "Mmm. This is really good, Annie. Where'd you get it?"

"I made it," she replied, removing items from her refrigerator for his sandwich. "From scratch. Danielle's recipe. I had to do something while you were off saving the world," she teased.

As she finished making his sandwich, she set it in front of him and settled into the barstool across from him. Balancing her chin in the palm of her hand, her elbow propped on the counter, she watched him as he ate. She hadn't really intended to, but after flying to Florida for a brush pass and back again, just to be debriefed and sent home by six o'clock, her exhaustion was starting to catch up to her.

"Annie, you're watching me," he said with a teasing smile, and she blushed.

"Sorry, I'm kinda tired," she admitted. "But you have to admit, you're not too hard on the eyes, Mr. Anderson."

He laughed. "What's on the agenda for tonight?" he asked.

She held up a DVD case. "_White Christmas_. It was my parents' favorite movie, ever, and I just kinda grew to love it."

When he finished his sandwich, she threw the paper plate away, and guided him to the couch and curled up next to him, tucking her socked feet underneath her.

As the movie began to play, Auggie began to ask, "What is—"

She sent him a fierce look. "Shh. It's starting."

He laughed and paid attention to the dialogue. He'd seen the movie a couple times with his family before he had joined the army, so he had a general idea where it was all headed.

After a few moments, her head dropped onto his shoulder. A few moments later, her head drooped onto his chest, and he whispered, "Annie?"

He was met with the cadence of Annie's even breathing. _Asleep?_ He smiled softly and tugged the throw blanket off the back of her couch and over her as he settled back to listen to the rest of the movie.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

When Annie woke the next morning, she looked up to find Auggie's sleeping head above her. _Auggie?_

She noticed that her throw blanket was tucked around her, and Auggie was snoring softly. _Snoring_? She'd have to keep that in mind for later.

She sat up slowly, curling her feet underneath her, as she turned to study him. He looked so peaceful, sleeping there, the worry gone from his face, just peace and the Auggie she had come to love. The angle his neck was in, however, was almost comical.

She leaned in, kissing him awake. As consciousness returned to him, his hands came up to cradle her face.

She pulled away slowly. "Mornin', beautiful," she whispered.

He chuckled before he moved his neck. He groaned.

Annie grinned at him. "I wondered if you'd complain about that."

He just offered her a smile. Waking up to Annie's kiss outweighed the pain in his neck. The thought of waking up next to her, day after day, made him ache with longing. The idea of being a permanent part of Annie's life was a very appealing one, at that.

She slowly stood to her feet, folding the blanket over the back of the couch and pressing a kiss to his forehead before she continued to her closet. "It's a little after seven-thirty," she said in passing. "I'm going to get ready quick. We can stop by your apartment to get you a change of clothes, if you want."

He hummed in reply while she continued to get ready. Truth be told, he was too distracted by the idea of waking up next to Annie every morning.

**A/N:** Ugh, I'm sorry this is SO abominably short, haha. When I was thinking of it in my head, it was a lot longer… Then again, I tried writing this a couple times, and each time it didn't come out the way I'd hoped. :/ I blame it on my hard drive almost crashing. :/

I promise next chapter will be MUCH longer, though… :) Already have a bunch of lovely plans for it, and I hope it will be uber-awesome. :) Much more uber-awesome than this was, at least. :)


	13. The Children's Addition

**A/N:** Ugh, just wanted to apologize for the last chappy. Even after rereading it… I'm still really not pleased, although I am more pleased than I was when I posted it, haha. At this point, I don't really have too many days left to go back through and fix it, but, if you're really interested and would like to see it rewritten, I would be willing to, after I finish this story. :)

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine. "Hotel Bethlehem," the play I was basing the pageant off of, belongs to Pam Andrews, not me. :)

Chapter 13

The Children's Addition

December 14, 2010

Tech Ops

Annie came up behind Auggie, quietly beginning to massage his shoulders.

Auggie leaned into the hands soothing his screaming muscles. "Hey, Annie," he said quietly. He _would_ have called her "babe" again, but he was keenly aware of Barber's eyes on the both of them.

Barber had been assigned as Jai's handler on an overseas mission, and, despite the fact that Barber was currently in a conversation with Jai, the man seemed to be more focused on Annie and Auggie than the mission at hand.

"Shoulders still hurting?" Annie whispered, leaning down closer to his ear as she ignored Auggie's nosy coworker.

He rolled his eyes, and, as her hands stilled, he rolled his neck, too. "Ugh. Worse than this morning," he groaned. He was grateful when her hands began to knead into the tight muscles of his neck again.

"Well," she finally said. "Chloe and Katia are convinced they have the perfect remedy for your ailments."

He turned his head to her voice curiously, grimacing at the extra burst of pain. "Oh? And what is this remedy?"

She giggled. "They're sure that you attending their Christmas pageant tonight will fix all your woes, whatever they may be."

He turned to smirk at her. "Is that what they think?"

She giggled again. "They're utterly convinced. Apparently, they'll be utterly disappointed in you if you refuse their gracious invitation."

He laughed as he logged off his computer. "We could never let that happen," he said officiously.

She laughed. "C'mon, Auggie. Let's go eat."

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 14, 2010

Georgetown Christian Day Academy

Annie couldn't help smiling as she entered the auditorium of Chloe and Katia's school. Childish paintings of the Nativity covered the walls, and moody Christmas lights zigzagged across the ceiling. At the front of the auditorium, the stage was decorated as an ancient Roman-style hotel, paintings of the street filling the walls surrounding the main stage.

The atmosphere was homey and inviting, and Annie couldn't help but remember her own elementary school Christmas programs. Granted, her childhood was vastly different from Chloe's and Katia's, but the set-up of the auditorium left her feeling nostalgic.

Annie had barely met the gaze of Danielle before she heard her name squealed across the auditorium. "Annieeeeee!"

She and Auggie barely had time to brace themselves before the two girls, clad in robes, sashes, and sandals, plowed into their aunt. "Aunt Annie! You came!"

She laughed as she planted a kiss on each of her niece's cheeks. "'Course I came. How could I miss my best girls' Christmas show?" she offered with a smile.

The two girls preened at the attention their aunt paid them before turning to Auggie. "Mr. Auggie! You came!" Chloe wrapped her arms around his waist in a childish hug. "Aunt Annie says that you're not feeling good, but this is a magical Christmas play. 'Kay? You'll feel better in a little bit."

Auggie shared a grin with Annie over the girls as he awkwardly hugged her back. "Okay," he finally agreed.

A young woman, dressed in a conservative, but pretty, green dress, a clipboard tucked at her side, called out, "Chloe and Katia!" from the back of the auditorium. The two girls turned to look.

Chloe hugged the two of them quickly. "Bye, Aunt Annie! Make sure you watch us!"

They ran off, their flipflops flapping in the air. Annie smirked before sliding her arm through Auggie's. "C'mon," she said. "Dani saved us seats."

The lights dimmed and the audience hushed. As Annie sank to the seat next to him, Auggie was acutely aware of her presence next to him. Despite the days they had spent together, much of their time together as a couple had been spent in private. Spending time with Annie's nieces, watching _White Christmas_ the night before… even when they had been out in public, they hadn't really been a couple to most of outside world.

But now, Annie sat, tucked at his side. Her hand had slipped into his, and, as she watched the kindergartners line up on the stage, preparing to sing a Christmas carol, she rested her silky cheek on his shoulder. Smiling to himself, he realized that having Annie by his side was quickly becoming one of his favorite things.

_Was it normal that all his favorite things were starting to relate to a certain happy blonde that had invaded his life less than a year ago?_ He couldn't stop smiling at the thought that Annie was actually his girlfriend.

He noticed she had changed into a new dress—this one, more flowing and free-spirited than the conservative suit she had been wearing earlier. Every time she brushed past him, he felt the knee-length hem of the dress tickling his calf through his pants. She smelled deliciously of grapefruit, and the fact that she was here, right next to him, was intoxicating.

She had requested that they take it slow, and he had agreed. He would have done anything to have something more than the easy banter and deep trust with Annie that had defined their relationship less than a month ago.

Now—now, she was tucked at his side, like she cared more about being his girlfriend than being Chloe and Katia's supportive aunt. Until he had met Annie, he had been convinced it would take a special sort of woman to make August Anderson settle down. He knew most of his brothers had, and he was glad for them… but he had always thought he would be off, doing his own thing, never settling down.

With Annie, though, the thought of settling down was beginning to be very appealing.

He turned his attention to Annie. "You okay?" he whispered, concerned a little by the way she was using his shoulder as a pillow.

She looked up at him with an easy smile. She leaned in to press a soft, reassuring kiss to his cheek. "Yeah, love. I'm just a bit tired, that's all." She pressed a little closer to his side. "Besides, what girl wouldn't love having you at her side?"

He smiled and pressed a kiss against her soft, sunny hair. "Just checking," he whispered back. "Are you going to give me commentary? So I don't miss anything?"

She grinned as her cheek dropped against his shoulder again. "'Course, love."

"Love?" he asked.

"Mmm," she hummed in reply. "I'm not very good at this endearment thing. So I'm trying a few options out."

He laughed against her silky hair. "Mmm. Keep searchin', babe," he whispered, and she laughed quietly.

She turned her attention back to the front stage. The choir of young children was filing onto the side of the stage, and Annie waved discretely back at Chloe in the middle row.

As the children performed their Christmas musical—mostly singing in-tune, the youngest of them waving proudly to their families, playing with their dresses—Annie provided her cheeky, teasing commentary to Auggie. When one of the guests to the "hotel" that Baby Jesus was staying in brought his donkey to the stable and the stable boy lifted the donkey up into his arms, rather than leading it to the stall, the room hummed with laughter. Annie dutifully explained their cause for laughter, and the program continued with festivity, laughter, and adorableness.

Dani, sandwiched between her husband and Auggie, smiled knowingly at the interchange between her little sister and her boyfriend. Annie hadn't wanted to admit it, but Auggie was incredibly good for her. Annie had been hurt more than she had wanted to realize when Ben had come prancing back into her life a few months ago, and Auggie was the perfect solution, Danielle decided. As she proudly watched her two daughters singing, she was convinced she had to come up with a plan to move the two along. Annie was smart, but she was also too cautious when it came to the good things in life. Auggie was incredibly good for Annie. As soon as she realized that, all her problems would be solved.

As the curtains closed and the room filled with applause, the lights in the auditorium came up, and Annie slid to the edge of her seat, turning to look at Auggie. Her fingers were still entwined with this, and her knee bumped his when she turned. "So," she teased, "was it really as magical as the girls promised?"

He laughed as he squeezed her hand affectionately. He rolled his neck to test their theory. "Mmm. Not quite."

She giggled in reply, and the sound of it reassured him. He was starting to believe that the best sound in the world was Annie's laughter.

Dani turned to the both of them. "You two sounded like you were having fun the whole program," she commented conspiratorially.

Annie threw her sister a sarcastic, good-natured look. Usually, she despised Danielle's meddling in her love life, but, since Dani's meddling had brought her to Auggie, she hadn't minded lately. "Where are the girls?"

Michael pointed to the door that led backstage. The two girls emerged, Chloe tripping on her robe. Annie smiled, and a round of congratulations and hugs was bestowed upon the two girls, preening from the attention. When they were about to walk to the snack table in the back of the auditorium, Annie's and Auggie's cell phones vibrated at their hips. Apologizing, they both reached to answer them. "Annie Walker, acquisitions," Annie replied, since Danielle and Michael were watching her curiously.

On the other end, Joan adapted. "Annie, we need you to come back to Langley. Something's come up."

Annie glanced at her sister with a grimace. _Danielle was going to _love_ this._ "An emergency? With the new Monet display?"

Danielle was already groaning.

"I'll be there right away." Annie closed her phone and braced herself for the storm. "I gotta go," she said, wincing.

"Now, Annie? C'mon, the girls just gave the performances of their lives! They want to celebrate with their Aunt Annie!"

Annie groaned. "Danielle, I know. I want to celebrate with them, too. But as soon as whatever this is is sorted, I'll be home. And I'll make it up to them, I promise. But this display is really important to the museum, especially since it'll be opened to the public during the holidays. They need me. I gotta go."

She turned to Auggie, touching his arm. "Aug, who was that?"

He turned in her general direction. "Oh, ah, Stuart. From my office. They need me back, too."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Must be some fiasco."

Annie leaned over and kissed her sister's cheek. "I'm sorry, Dani. Really. I promise, I'll make it up to the girls."

Danielle sighed before Michael tugged her to the line at the snack table, knowing that the girls would be waiting. And with that, Annie and Auggie were off to save the world.

Again.

**A/N:** Better? Nobody outright said they didn't like last chapter, haha, but I did, sooo… I hope you like this better. I hope it came across okay!

Oh, and what do you think about the whole "love" thing? Auggie using "babe" just came to me right away, and it seemed like such an Auggie thing to do. I'm having a tougher time coming up with something for Annie to call Auggie, though. So far, "love" was probably my favorite option for Annie, although I have a Russian term of endearment that I thought I might try out. Any favorites you can see Annie using?


	14. The Snowball Incident

**A/N:** Okay… sooo, I obviously am too self-depracating. lol. You are all so kind. I'll try not to complain anymore. Just know… OCD can be _**EVILLLLLLL**_, and it probably will try and flair its ugly head. Multiple times. For the rest of my life. It's not as easy to control as one might hope. :/ And unfortunately, writing is one of those areas I feel it has to be FLAWLESS. Maybe because I love it so much. :)

Ah, and I wanted to mention… there will be mention of cases and such, just because Annie and Auggie are obviously still working during the Christmas season, but I'm trying to make the cases believable while still giving them time to celebrate Christmas. So there will be mentions of cases, but the focus is obviously Christmas and their budding romance, so… just so you know where the rest is headed. :)

Without further ado… :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

Chapter 14

The Snowball Incident

December 15, 2010

Langley

Annie gasped as she glanced out the window. "It snowed?" She turned to Auggie. "Did you know it snowed?"

He shrugged and gave her an easy half-smile. "We were both busy working, Annie. I guess time just got away from us."

Her eyes widened. "Enough to miss nearly a foot of snow falling?"

He laughed and tugged her closer for a brief kiss. "C'mon. Let's just go home. I'm exhausted."

She tugged her scarf up over her face, hearing the howling wind. She could only imagine the plummeting temperatures. She loved winter, but sometimes… sometimes she wished it just wasn't so fierce.

She slipped her gloved hand into his, leaning against him for warmth. She knew she'd be shivering by the time they reached her car.

By the time she had taken a few steps outside, however, she had changed her mind about hurrying to the car. The snow was inviting, and, after a long night and day of translating French texts and working on discovering the necessary intel, she needed a break from the stress. Slipping her hand out of Auggie's quietly, she ducked toward the snow, forming a snowball in her hands.

She bit back a smile when Auggie turned around. "Annie?" he called out. "Annie, what are you doing?"

She crouched by the door, hoping he wouldn't hear her breathing. She had a feeling he wasn't going to like this, but she was already having too much fun.

She waited until he backed up a few steps, and then she pulled her arm back and let the snowball fly.

It hit him square on the chest, and he howled at the cold. "Annie!"

She couldn't help giggling. "Sorry, Aug, I just couldn't resist!"

Halfway across the sidewalk, he scowled at her. "Do you realize how unfair it is to have a snowball fight with a _blind_ man?"

She laughed again, already forming the second snowball. "Really, Aug? You're always sneaking off into the field, but you can't even try and win a silly little snowball fight?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do you know how long it's been since I've aimed _anything_? Much less a snowball? My aim will be way off. And how in the world am I supposed to know where you are? You could be halfway to your car, for all I know."

She laughed as she dropped her second snowball and came to meet him. Leaning into his arms, she reached up and kissed him, slowly, sweetly. "C'mon, Auggie," she said with an easy smile. "When has your blindness ever stopped you from doing anything?"

He rolled his eyes. "I liked to think that it stopped me from doing a great many things," he said drolly. She met his gaze, waiting for his explanation. "Like making Christmas ornaments and climbing on ladders and getting into snowball fights. And yet, here I am, doing them all with you."

She laughed as she leaned in for another kiss. "See? I'm good for you." She pulled away quickly, running to the snow to make another snowball. She waited for him to do the same. When he didn't budge, she rolled her eyes. "Auggie, c'mon. Make a snowball. I'm not going to attack you, defenseless."

He smirked at that, and felt his way to the snow, slowly forming a snowball, glad he had actually remembered his gloves this time. As he stood to his feet, he turned, trying to figure out what to do next. Annie was strangely silent.

A snowball sailed through the air, catching the left sleeve of his wool coat this time. "Annie!" he scowled again.

She giggled. "Okay. C'mon. Use your ears," she hinted.

His face scrunched up in a scowl. "I thought I was," he growled out.

She giggled again. "C'mon. Where do you think I am?" she asked, speaking loud enough she knew her voice would be loud enough for him to hear her clearly, even over the wind, traffic, and outdoor noise.

He thought for a moment, then let the snowball sail through the air.

She ducked at the last second. She was glad she did, because he would have hit her in the middle of her nose. Annie reached down to form another snowball, holding it in her hand as she called to him. "Nice try, Auggie! Next time, try and avoid my nose!"

Surprise, then pleasure, and finally worry crossed his face. "Are you okay?" he called out, starting to walk towards her voice.

Mischievously, she took the opportunity to hit his right shoulder with her latest snowball. He groaned as it hit. "Annie!"

She grinned. "That was for almost breaking my nose. Luckily, I ducked. Otherwise, you'd have some serious apologizing to do."

Auggie smiled to himself. The idea of taking care of Annie was oh-so-appealing. Why in the world was she putting him through this freezing torture, when all he wanted to do was tug her back into his arms?

She was already forming another snowball—he could hear the snow being packed—so he reached down to make his own snowball. Annie was bound and determined to take him down. She had been surprised by his hearing abilities before—couldn't he use it to compensate?

As she kept building her arsenal, he listened carefully. Thought he could pinpoint it. He reached back and let his second snowball fly.

He was beaming when he heard the sound of Annie's squeal. When she demanded, "Why do you insist on hitting bare skin? Can't you at least aim for an arm or a shoulder or something?" he burst out laughing.

"You're the one who insisted that we do this," he pointed out, his grin lingering.

She scowled at him, knowing, somehow, he understood it. She couldn't help grinning back at him, like a fool, either. "You're on," she shouted back, grabbing her snowballs. For the following forty-five minutes, the snowballs flew back and forth, some hitting, some missing, as Annie provided constant chatter to alert him to her position.

They were both tiring of their game when Annie let her last snowball fly. In the dim outer lighting, she watched, horrified, as Auggie turned right into the snowball. She screamed, "Auggie!" but it already hit the corner of his eye. She wasn't terribly worried about physically injuring him, but she had been trying to avoid his face.

He stopped, stunned, as the snowball exploded against the side of his face. He coughed a little before trying to brush the cold snow away. She instantly was at his side, gently wiping the offending snow away. "Are you okay?" she asked, her warm bare hand lingering on his cheek.

He smiled cheekily in her direction. "Yeah, babe, I'm fine," he said, moments before her lips met the point of impact.

When she pulled away, she caressed his temple gently. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you in the head," she said subconsciously.

He tugged her into his arms and offered her that tender smile he offered her alone. The one that filled her happy dreams and she was beginning to adore. "I think I can forgive you," he whispered half a moment before his lips met hers in a sweet kiss.

Her hands slid up to cradle his face as she kissed him back. His tongue slid hesitantly across her lower lip, and she sighed softly as she allowed him access.

Kissing Auggie was utterly _divine_. How in the world had she lived her whole life without this sweet romance, this budding love? Falling for Auggie was like a sweet lullaby, like everything good and lovely gathered into one.

She pulled away slowly, resting her forehead against his. "Happy one week anniversary," she whispered softly, leaning in to brush her lips against his once more.

He looked slightly confused. "One week? It's only Wednesday."

She grinned back at him. "Mmm. A week ago right now, I knew I wanted to be your girl. I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Mmm," he replied, smiling before he kissed her again. "Happy anniversary."

She reached for his hand and tugged him toward the parking lot. "C'mon," she said. "Let's go get dinner."

As she guided them into the direct glow of one of the lamps, she began to brush the snow from his coat. "You're a mess," she joked, leaning into his side as she finished.

He wrapped his arm around her, tucking her at his side, as he reached down to claim her lips in a kiss. "Mmm. With you by my side, I'm not too worried about it."

She grinned up at him cheekily. "Mmm. You use that line a lot on the ladies, maya dorogaya?"

"What? No… just on you, babe," he said with a soft grin. He turned to face her. "And what in the world is 'maya dorogaya'?"

She laughed at his confusion, snuggling at his side. "It's Russian. It means 'my dear one.'"

He seemed to be pondering the idea of it all. "Hmm."

"Better than 'love'?" she asked.

He smiled as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Definitely better than 'love,'" he laughed. "You sounded like a stuffy British butler last night." He paused as she laughed against him. "It has potential," he said, finally.

She smiled as she kissed him gently. Pulling the door to her car open, she said, "Let's go eat. Subway okay tonight?"

**A/N:** Fluffy? Yes! Ahh, loved writing this so much. Definitely my favorite chapter so far. :) I hope you like it just as much.

A few of you asked about the Russian term of endearment... so here it is! Yay? Nay? I have a few other ideas up my sleeve, but I'm starting to really like "maya dorogaya." :)

Please review and let me know what you think! :)


	15. The Merry Celebration

**A/N:** Hey, everybody! Here's the next installment. :) FINALLY finished my last final, so, hopefully, I can begin to focus on this, and, well, celebrate my own Christmas. :) Speaking of finals, if you're in college, too, I hope you got a lot more money back on your books than I did. :/ (Only five dollars shouldn't count as a refund. In any stretch of the imagination. UGH. I don't care what book it is!)

In other news, I know a lot of you have are asking me to keep going… and I really have every intention of doing so. I wouldn't have started this if I didn't have every intention of finishing it. That being said, this is a REALLY long project. And while I am committed to finishing this story (before Christmas, no less, which won't be easy!), receiving reviews really helps me stay excited about this story. Please—I just want this to be the best that it can be, and reviews really help me to know what works and what doesn't. :)

**Disclaimer:** not mine...

Chapter 15

The Merry Celebration

December 15, 2010

Brooks' Home

Annie tentatively pushed open the door to Danielle's house, echoing with laughter and music. "Hello?" she called, tugging Auggie inside.

Danielle was busy in the kitchen, finishing up the hors d'oeuvres while she talked to someone. Michael was discussing some serious subject with some of the fathers of Chloe and Katia's friends.

Chloe, Katia, and Chloe's best friend, Ivy, ran up to Annie and Auggie. "Aunt Annie!" Chloe called. They all skidded to a stop, before they plowed into the pair.

"Mr. Auggie!" Ivy whispered, a holy awe in her voice. The last time Ivy had seen Auggie was at the Smithsonian field trip, and she hadn't believed Chloe and Katia when they had promised that he would be there that night.

Auggie grinned in the girls' general direction. "Hello, Ivy," he greeted.

Her voice caught in her throat, and Chloe and Katia giggled. "Ivy wants to know if you brought any cool stuff from the Smithsonian," Katia explained magnanimously.

Annie and Auggie shared a grin. Annie reached out and affectionately stroked Ivy's head. "Sorry, sweetie. Not this time."

Ivy's lower lip pouted out, but Chloe was quick to bring the cheer back into the conversation. "Here, Aunt Annie!" she squealed, handing her a Santa Claus hat. "One for you, and one for Mr. Auggie. Everybody has to wear one."

Annie fitted her hat on her head, and she turned to Auggie, placing his securely on the top of his head. "There," she said proudly, glancing to the girls for approval, before she kissed Auggie briefly.

"Ewwww!" the three squealed before running off.

Annie laughed as she slid her arm through Auggie's. "Well, at least we know how to get some privacy around here," she laughed.

He chuckled at her side as they walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Annie!" Danielle gushed. "I'm so glad you're here. Can you help me?"

Annie deposited Auggie at the kitchen table. "Sure. Whaddaya need help with?" she asked, her words mumbling together as she snuck a chocolate-covered pretzel stick and popped it in her mouth.

Danielle scowled at her little sister. "Here," she said, indicating a platter. "It's almost time to eat, but I still have to ice this cake. Can you please finish these little sandwiches? All you have to do is spread the cream cheese mixture on the bread, and put one of the cucumbers on each sandwich."

Annie shrugged. "Sounds easy enough," she replied, sneaking a slice of cucumber.

Danielle heaved a sigh as she went back to icing the chocolate cherry cake she had been working on. "You know, I'll never have any food left, by the time I get you out of my house."

Annie threw her a grin. "It's not like it's going to change. I don't know why you don't just accept it and make me my own stash whenever you know I'll be around."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "I never know when you'll be around! That's the problem!"

Annie laughed as she reached over and kissed her sister's cheek. "Oh, calm down. I won't eat all your sandwiches, Dani."

They worked in silence for a while, and then Danielle asked, "So how was the Smithsonian today? Strangely void of emergencies?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "There's not always a lot of emergencies, Dani. Most of the time, it's just business trips."

"Business trips, shmisness trips," Danielle said drolly. "You're gone often enough."

Auggie was quick to rescue her. With a charming grin, he replied, "Oh, same old, same old."

"No security breaches?" she asked, and Auggie shook his head with a grin. His cover was that he was part of the security for the Smithsonian, and she and Auggie had met on her first day on the job.

"We acquired an interesting painting today," Annie jumped in. "By—"

The three girls raced into the room. "Mommy! Mommy!" Chloe called.

Danielle threw her sister an apologetic look, and turned to her daughters. "What, Chloe?"

"Is dinner almost ready? Charlie's _starving_! He won't leave us alone!"

Charlie was Ivy's four-year-old little brother. Needless to say, the three girls weren't thrilled he was following them around.

Dani finished icing the cake and deposited the dirty dishes in her sink. "It's almost ready," she said. "You girls are being nice to Charlie, though, right?"

"Yes, Mommy," Chloe and Katia complained in unison.

As the three girls stumbled out of the room, Danielle turned to her sister. "Almost done?" she asked.

Annie finished arranging the last finger sandwich on the platter. "All done," she said, brushing the crumbs from her hands over the trashcan. "Where do you want these?"

Dani glanced at the table. "I dunno. Just find somewhere to put it," she said, putting the cake away until later.

A few moments later, the entire group gathered around the table, while Michael offered a blessing for the meal. Everyone found their food, and the children sat at the kitchen table to eat while the adults settled themselves comfortably in the living room on the couches and chairs set up around the room. It wasn't a usual Thursday night dinner, but it was Christmastime. Danielle had decided to make an exception.

As the adults enjoyed their meal, Annie and Auggie found themselves the center of attention, as the other couples questioned them about their jobs at the Smithsonian, how they met, and what they were doing for Christmas. As Annie settled by his side, she squeezed his hand apologetically for the attention, more than once trying to divert the attention to Dani's catering business, Michael's fairly new job, and topics of interest of the other adults. Somehow, however, the conversation always returned to Annie and Auggie.

After nearly half an hour of the attention, Annie and Auggie excused themselves to get a second helping, finding themselves distracted by the children that adored them on the way back. After teasing Chloe, Katia, Ivy, Charlie, and the three other children, Annie reached for Auggie's hand. As they headed back to living room and the curious adults, she apologized for the sharks.

He just laughed and squeezed her hand in reply.

As they took their seats again, they found the attention had been diverted. Grateful, Annie and Auggie shared quiet conversation, trying to avoid as much attention as possible. As they joked about their lives and Danielle and Joan, an outsider would have thought the pair were akin to two little children, sharing their secrets. It might have been an apt description, Annie thought. The relationship she shared with Auggie was true and good and pure, and being with Auggie made her feel giddy with excitement. Just like sharing secrets among young children—only a million times better.

After dinner and dessert were served, the seven children squealed as they bounded into the living room, demanding the Christmas games be brought out. With a smile, Annie and Danielle brought out a whiteboard for Christmas pictionary, and the group laughed late into the night.

As Danielle and Michael were getting ready to send Chloe and Katia to bed for the night, and the three other families were about to leave, Auggie cleared his throat. "Excuse me?" he asked, and everyone turned to look at him. Annie studied him curiously, missing the mischievous, proud look on her sister's face.

"Today is Annie's and my one-week anniversary," he began. "I know this doesn't really mean much to most of you… but, there was a time…" He paused to thread his fingers between Annie's. "That I thought she'd never be my girl. So even though it's not much, Annie, I want you to know that I'll never take you for granted, and I promise to never hurt you, and I will always protect you, whenever it is within my power." He paused. "Even when it's not."

Dani and the two other women standing near the door cooed at Auggie's proclamation.

Auggie turned from Annie to her big sister. "Dani, do you still…"

"Oh, yeah!" she said, instantly jolting toward the kitchen. "I can't believe I almost forgot!" she called, returning quickly with a small wrapped package and a single lily, its edges pure white, the center a perfect blushed pink, freckles of fuchsia spattered across its center.

Annie reached for the flower in awe. She had, months ago, mentioned in passing to Auggie that lilies were her favorite flower. He had remembered? Lifting the lily to her nose, she sniffed its fragrance, sighing softly. "Auggie?" she asked, turning to look at him. "You did all this?"

He grinned at her. "'Course, babe," he whispered, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

When Danielle handed her the gift, she pulled the paper off quickly, curiously. Lifting the lid, she discovered an exquisitely-crafted hummingbird ornament. She glanced from Dani to Auggie. "Auggie, it's beautiful," she whispered.

He grinned in her direction. "I know how much Christmas means to you," he said softly. "And Dani said that your mom always called you her little hummingbird. I—I thought…"

She leaned in to kiss him briefly. "Thank you," she whispered. "It's perfect."

The room erupted into applause, the little girls rushing to Annie to see her gift, and Annie and Auggie blushed at the attention.

Soon enough, the two other families had said their good-byes, and the two girls were headed upstairs for the night. Hugging Danielle and Michael, Annie and Auggie said their good-byes and headed for the door. As they paused in the doorway to call a final good-bye, Dani smiled and pointed to the doorframe.

Annie looked up to find the mistletoe, still hanging there proudly. This time, she smiled.

"Mistletoe?" Auggie asked, and she laughed.

"Yeah, Auggie," she said, and he tugged her into his arms. She was laughing softly, full of joy, as his lips met hers. When she pulled away, they bumped foreheads affectionately before turning to tell Danielle good-bye.

She lifted her hand in farewell as she smiled.

There were just some things that Danielle Brooks knew before anyone else did. The fact that Annie Walker and Auggie Anderson were meant for each other was only the most important.

For now, anyway.

**A/N:** Does Christmas pictionary even exist? I have no idea, haha. For the purposes of this story, let's say it does. :)


	16. The Snuggle Factor

**A/N:** Mmm. You guys are just so good at encouraging me about this story. :) Without more ado, here's the next part! I was so excited to write it, so I hope you love it, too! :)

**Disclaimer:** Covert Affairs isn't mine. Neither is Twas the Night Before Christmas. :(

Chapter 16

The Snuggle Factor

December 17, 2010

Brooks Home

Annie and Auggie entered the Brooks home without knocking. Apparently, there was an emergency this night.

Annie still remembered Danielle's frantic tone when she had called. "Annie, you _have_ to get over here! The girls _refuse_ to go to bed until you and Auggie read them a bedtime story!"

Annie had tried to hold back her laughter. She doubted it was that serious, but she tried to calm her sister anyway. "Danielle… it can't be that bad."

Danielle had groaned. "It is! Michael and I promised them they could sleep around the Christmas tree tonight, since it's the weekend and everything. Now they refuse to go to bed! They keep shouting that _today_ is the day you have to make up leaving their program earlier this week. They keep laughing and talking loudly and they refuse to go to bed!"

Annie laughed. "Danielle… Can't you just put your foot down? You're their mom, and Auggie and I are already doing something tonight."

"I _tried_!" she groaned. "I've never seen them like this, Annie! You have to get over here!"

Auggie snagged the phone from Annie's ear. "Danielle, what's going on?"

Danielle sighed with relief. "Oh, good, Auggie… The girls are demanding that you and Annie come and read them a bedtime story. I tried to talk them out of it, tell them that it wasn't happening, but they won't listen! Will you and Annie come? Please?"

Auggie grinned over at Annie. "Sure. We'll be there in a little bit," he had promised.

Annie had glanced at Auggie as he handed her back her phone. He looked so sure, so excited about it, though, so she had agreed. There would be time for just her and Auggie later, she supposed.

When they entered the front door, Chloe and Katia's heads flew to the door. "Aunt Annie! Mr. Auggie!" they called excitedly.

Annie bit back a laugh as the two girls ran to greet them. After a round of hugs was delivered, Annie glanced at her watch. "It's already 9:30! Why aren't you in bed yet?"

Katia rolled her eyes. "We _were_. But you promised you'd make it up to us for leaving early, Aunt Annie! Did you bring a good story?"

Chloe reached for Annie's hand. "Yeah. We _know_ Mommy called you."

Annie suppressed another laugh. Sometimes, the little twerps were too much. She guided Chloe back to the couch, which folded out into a queen-sized bed. Chloe and Katia climbed into their respective sides of the bed, and Annie and Auggie toed off their shoes before settling in between the two girls.

With the Christmas tree twinkling a few feet away from them, the girls snuggled under the covers, Auggie brought out the storybook they had brought with them.

"'_Twas the Night before Christmas_!" Katia squealed. "I love that story!"

Chloe reached out to trace the picture on the cover, slowing her movements when she felt bumps underneath her fingers close to the title. "What's that?" she asked.

"It's Braille," Annie said. "So Auggie knows what it says."

"Ohhh," the girls whispered, intrigued. "Mr. Auggie, are you gonna read it?"

He just grinned as he opened the book to the first page. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…'" he began, his voice full and animated, as his finger trailed along the bumps on the page.

Snuggling closer, the girls studied him as his finger moved across the page. "How do you do it?" Chloe finally asked him, looking up into his eyes.

He reached for her hand and placed it on the bumps on the page. "You feel the bumps?"

She nodded against his side, and Auggie said, "Katia, c'mere. Feel the bumps."

Gingerly, she reached across Annie's lap to touch the raised bumps on the white page. She scrunched her nose up at the feel of it and pulled her hand away. "The bumps tell me the letters," he explained. "Each letter has its own symbol—using these dots, see? There is a cell for each letter, with six spots a dot can be. For this first letter, the 'T'—there is a dot in the top right corner, the middle left, the middle right, and the bottom left. See?"

They leaned closer to look. "Ohhh," they whispered, fascinated by the idea that Auggie could read with his fingers.

He flashed each of them a grin. "Can I read again now?"

Chloe settled back under the covers, leaning against his side as he resumed his tale. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…'"

As Auggie continued to read, Chloe and Katia slowly began to fall asleep. By the time Auggie closed the book, they were blissfully at rest—Chloe asleep, half on top of Auggie, her arms flung across the bed, while Katia had fallen asleep, curled at Annie's side.

Annie stroked Katia's hair out of her face and turned to look at Auggie. Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're good with the girls," she teased, suppressing a yawn. "I thought you didn't like third graders."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't hate them… I just avoid most of them. That was before I met Chloe and Katia," he explained.

She smirked at him, repositioning her body so she was leaning against his chest. "Yeah, okay…" she teased quietly.

He looked in her general direction, mouth half open in shock. "What, don't you believe me?" he asked, a teasing grin covering his face.

She giggled quietly as she craned her neck to look up into his eyes. "I think you were just in denial. You adore kids, but you just don't want it to affect your macho-macho ego."

"My macho-macho ego?" he asked incredulously, a grin covering his features, as he wrapped his arms around her. "What does that even mean, anyway?"

She giggled quietly, mesmerized by the sparkling lights of the tree. "You're the genius. You figure it out," she teased slowly, her eyes drooping shut.

He reached out and brushed her drooping hair from her face. "Hey, Annie? You want to move a little? My left leg is killing me…"

No response.

"Annie?" he whispered again, louder this time.

Still no response.

He stilled when he felt her go limp on top of him, and as her breathing slowed to a steady, reassuring pace. _She was asleep? How in the world did she fall asleep so fast?_

His arms tightened around her. The thought of Annie, sleeping in his arms, still was unbelievable to him.

As he sat there, pondering whether he should wake Annie or let her sleep (and how he was going to get home), he found that the events of the week were catching up to him. His eyes began to droop shut. He had considered trying to find Dani and ask her to take him home for the night, but the idea of waking up next to Annie again thrilled him, and slowly, sleepily, he repositioned them between Annie's two nieces. Wrapping his arm protectively around Annie, he intertwined their fingers and softly kissed her neck before burying his face in her shoulder moments before sweet sleep claimed him.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

"Annie?" Danielle whispered, tiptoeing into the living room. She had heard Annie and Auggie enter nearly an hour ago with promises of a bedtime story, and yet, no sounds had been coming from the living room for quite some time now. She figured Annie would have at least said good-bye before they left.

The image that met her eyes, though, surprised her. Chloe and Katia, as always, were sprawled out across the sofa-bed, completely innocent and pure and at peace in their unconscious state. In between them, Annie and Auggie were fast asleep, curled up together, Auggie's arm wrapped around her protectively.

Dani grinned to herself as she grabbed a throw blanket from the hall closet and drapped it over her new favorite couple. Tiptoing to the wall, she turned off the Christmas lights for the night before heading back to her bedroom to continue wrapping presents.

Sometimes, she decided, fate worked in her favor, even when she didn't try.

**A/N:** Mmm. Short and sweet. Hope you liked it!

Review, please. :)


	17. The Intriguing Volunteer

**A/N:** Oooh, I'm getting so excited about writing this, haha. Now that school's out of the way and I actually get to enjoy the Christmasy things… I'm hoping this story will be even better than before. :) I seriously don't know how I considered it the Christmas season without getting a Christmas tree, watching _Eloise at Christmastime_, and making Christmas cookies. And I did them all yesterday! Bragging? A little. :) I hate how school squelches Christmasy joy, haha. Hope all your Christmases are turning out to be fabulous, too! :)

And ohhh, I've been so excited about writing this chapter! I've been waiting nearly a month to write this. :) I had already planned to write Christmas with Auggie when my own church did its own holiday food drive, and I couldn't help but think how awesome Annie and Auggie would be in that environment. :) I hope you like it. :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Not mine. Not mine.

Chapter 17

The Intriguing Volunteer

December 18, 2010

Brooks Home

He woke to find her curled around the left side of his body, her head tucked into the hollow of his neck. _Annie_. Waking up next to her—he couldn't believe how good it felt.

Dating Annie was incredible, and he couldn't believe how quickly he was falling for her. But waking up next to her? In this moment, he realized he loved her, would do anything for her. The realization jolted him, thrilled him. He loved Annie? Oh, _yes_… He loved her quirks, her sunny personality, her strength, her desire for goodness. He loved the way she kissed him and spent every moment with him. He _loved_ her.

Rolling onto his side, so he was facing her, he cupped her jaw gently and pressed his lips to hers. _I love you_. It was both liberating and euphoric to realize it, and he couldn't wait to tell her.

She stirred slowly in his arms, and, as awareness came to her, she returned the kiss, pressing herself closer to him. Regretfully, he pulled back. "Morning, beautiful," he whispered.

She pressed another quick kiss to his lips. "Mmm," she said, her voice adorably sleep-laced. "Morning, honey."

He smiled softly for her, tucking a strand of sunny hair behind her ear, his hand lingering there. "New term of endearment?" he asked.

She grinned as she settled in next to him, lost in his expressive chocolate eyes. "Mmm. Yeah. Whaddaya think?" she asked.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Mmm. It has potential. I like it and 'maya dordrogava,'" he said.

She giggled at his side. "I need to teach you Russian. It's 'maya dorogaya,' silly."

He chuckled, loving the feel of her in his arms. "As long as I get to keep 'babe,' I'm fine," he said.

She stopped to look around the room. "We fell asleep? After you read the girls the story?" she asked.

"Must have," he said, twirling her soft hair around his finger absentmindedly. "Where are the girls? And Dani and Michael, for that matter?"

At that moment, Dani walked into the room. "Right here," she said, her voice filled with a lilt-ey teasing. "Mornin', love birds."

Annie groaned as she turned to look at her sister. "Morning," she sighed.

Auggie grinned in what he hoped was her direction. "Morning, Danielle."

She rolled her eyes as she studied the two. "The girls managed to leave some of the pancakes for you. Do you want any?" Before either of them could reply, she added, as if she had just remembered, "Oh, and Annie, are you still planning on taking the girls' to Ivy's church to help with the can collection?"

Annie sat up and dug her cell phone out of her purse. "Yeah… What time is it?" She put her cell phone away. It was almost 9:30. "Mmm, breakfast sounds good." She turned to Auggie, helping him up as the wandered into the kitchen as she tried to convince him to help her separate canned food for the less fortunate.

For a man who had recently discovered that he was in love, the prospect of spending the day with his girlfriend didn't take too much convincing.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 17, 2010

Mercy Community Chapel

Chloe and Katia ran ahead, storming into the church. "Don't—" But they were already inside, greeting Ivy excitedly. "Run," she finished with a sigh.

Auggie laughed as he climbed out of the seat, and she slid her hand into his. "C'mon," she teased. "I think we're about to be on crowd control today."

He chuckled at her side, and she pulled the glass door open. "Oh, be careful, Auggie… there's a metal thingy at your ten o'clock, between the two doors."

"A metal thingy?" he asked, amused at her choice of vocabulary.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not a pole, and it's not a rod… I don't know what to call it."

He hummed in understanding before an elderly, overly-excitable woman, short, silvery hair, wide smile, came to greet them. "Annabelle!" the woman exclaimed, enthusiasm oozing from her.

"Annabelle?" Auggie whispered in her ear. "I thought your name was _Anne_."

She giggled. "It is. She's kinda… forgetful."

He nodded in understanding while she turned to give the woman a hug. "Hello, Mrs. Nash. But really, it's just Annie."

"Of course it is, Annabelle," she said dismissively. "And who is this young man?"

Annie smiled as she squeezed his hand tighter. "This is my boyfriend, Auggie. Auggie, this is Mrs. Nash. She's in charge of the whole operation."

"She's in charge?" he whispered incredulously as he offered his hand. "How has she not lost half the food yet?"

Annie tried to hide her grin. "Well, there was that 2007 incident…"

Auggie tossed her another incredulous look, but turned his attention back to Mrs. Nash. "Pleased to meet you," he offered politely.

She reached up to shake his hand. "Hello, young man. It's very nice to meet you. Auggie… is that short for something? Augustus, maybe?"

He suppressed a grin. "No, ma'am, just August. But please, just call me Auggie."

"Augustus it is!" she proclaimed, proud at her own discovery. "But Augustus, dear, you really don't need those sunglasses in here," she added, patting his arm patronizingly.

He managed a smile and tugged the sunglasses off. The sun had been especially bright that early afternoon, so he had worn them on the way to the church. He really didn't need them inside, but since he was going into a new place, he wasn't sure what it would be like, and he thought it might make them feel more at ease.

As he tucked his sunglasses into his shirt pocket, his gaze lingered on a spot above Mrs. Nash's right shoulder, and the woman studied him, intrigued. "Oh, Annabelle, my dear… is your boyfriend…"

Her voice dropped off, but they both understood the implication. Annie smiled tenderly. "Yes, Mrs. Nash, he is. But he's really quite amazing. He can help out, just like anybody else could."

The elderly woman rushed to embrace him. "Oh, I'm sorry, Augustus, I really didn't mean to imply I didn't think you could help. I was just so surprised—you seem so adjusted to the world. I didn't even recognize, until you took off your glasses," she gushed.

Auggie managed a grin. Most people were awkward around the issue of his blindness, but he was glad that Mrs. Nash seemed quite comfortable around the subject.

As she pulled away, she said, "Well then, I was going to have you two sorting, but we seem to be short a counter and an un-bagger. Annabelle, would you mind terribly counting again this year? I know you remember from last year."

"Of course," Annie supplied easily, trying to ignore her new name.

"And Augustus… if we keep you supplied with the bags full of the groceries, can you please pass them on down to Annabelle, so she can count them?"

Auggie nodded, still amused that she called them Augustus and Annabelle. Mrs. Nash was already ushering them over to the folding tables that were set up for the occasion. Mrs. Nash first deposited Auggie at the end of the table, placing a bag in front of him, before guiding Annie to her chair, as if she couldn't find it herself. "Now, dears," she replied. "Ivy, Chloe, and Katia are already here, starting to separate the food into their different food groups and such, and Ivy's mom and I are checking for unclean food, so, Annabelle, dear, just count them. Remember that each line represents five items on the paper!"

Annie suppressed a giggle as she glanced at Auggie.

Mrs. Nash came to stand by Auggie again. "And Augustus, please just feel comfortable. We have a few bags that the church has already deposited, but we have teams that have gone out to collect items from the bags they dropped off last week, so more bags will be coming in, and soon there will be lots of people to help out. If you need help with anything, just ask Annabelle or me. Or anybody, really…" she said, her voice fading out as she gestured, walking toward the end of the table.

Auggie laughed incredulously as he handed Annie the first few cans of food from a paper bag. "Is she always like this?" he asked.

She laughed. "Who? Mrs. Nash?" She smirked over at him. "I have never known Mrs. Nash to _not_ be like that."

He continued passing the canned food down to Annie, as she counted and passed them on. Their light banter continued as more people arrived, stopping to meet the blind volunteer, so cheerful and happy, so skilled at everything he did. They were all intrigued by him, and Annie watched, with a smile, as they came to love the man, she, too, was coming to love.

She hadn't been sure about bringing him to Mercy Chapel—so many new people, new noises, new reactions. She hadn't been sure he would like it, or that he would really be accepted. Even though it was a church, she had heard from Ivy and the girls that sometimes the church wasn't as gracious a place as the world expected it to be. They had accepted their intriguing guest with open arms, though, fascinated by his life.

As Annie was pondering these things, she forgot to keep counting. Auggie felt around the cans he had already deposited on the table. They were beginning to pile up, and he was afraid he'd set one too close to the edge, and it would topple off. "Annie?" he teased, and she turned to look at him absentmindedly.

"Hmm?"

"I thought you were supposed to be _counting_ not staring off into space."

She suppressed a smile and reached for his hand. "I _was_ counting, honey. Just got distracted."

He cocked a confident grin. "Mmm. My physique still that attractive, even in jeans and a tee shirt?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes. She wanted to say that he looked _especially_ good today, but she didn't need to puff up his already monstrous ego. She laughed, then. "Yeah, okay. I was just thinking that I'm happy you decided to come."

He offered her a tender smile. "Yeah, well, I'm glad I came, too." He squeezed her hand. "Thanks for making me celebrate Christmas with you."

She smiled up at him. "'Course."

He turned back to his bag, pulling out another item. "But I want to take you to dinner tonight. So you'd better hurry up."

She grinned back at him. "Okay," she said, reaching for five more cans. "Just as long as it isn't that awful seafood place Stu keeps trying to tell us to try out."

Auggie grinned. "Not in the mood for seafood?"

She scrunched her face up in disgust. "Not now, not _ever_," she said.

He laughed as he set down another can next to her. "Whatever you say, beautiful."

She couldn't help smiling softly as she reached for another can. Being with Auggie was just so addicting.

**A/N:** So what do you think of Mrs. Nash? Ahahaha… I loved writing her. I hope she comes off as hilarious as she was in my mind. I think that's why this one's a bit longer than the others—she just kinda ran away with the idea I had in my mind. She was originally going to be like this sweet little old lady in my church… but, ah, Mrs. Nash took over instead. And I quite like the result. :)

And after working at the seafood department in a grocery store for about a year… yeah, I can't even imagine eating that stuff. Even if I _did_ eat meat. Ugh. Couldn't help but make Annie hate it, too, lol.

Review, pretty please!


	18. The Untold Secret

**A/N:** Soooo. This one is going to be a loooong one. Almost double the length of most of the posts until now. So, depending on the reader and your time, you might either ADORE me, or be quite annoyed right now. haha. But… I had a dilemma. I had huge pros and cons for excluding and including the December 19th option I had planned… so I was torn whether I should include it or not. But after thinking about it for a while, I thought it might work to smoosh it into one entry—one day. Yeah, it's going to be lots and lots of everything. If it helps, think of it more as two chapters, haha. Just figured I should explain that… :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

Chapter 18

The Untold Secret

December 20, 2010

Brooks Driveway

Auggie climbed into the back seat of the van after Annie, slightly disappointed. He was happy to participate in all the Christmasy things Annie wanted to do with her family—after all, they had only discovered their feelings for each other _because_ she had vowed to kidnap him for a Christmasy ride—but now that they were dating, didn't he have a right to be with Annie, and Annie alone?

Their dinner plans after helping out at Ivy's church had been cut short when Joan had called them in on an international emergency that had blown wide-open in the afternoon. That night, late, Annie had flown out to Scotland for a brush pass. Despite the fact that he had been in her ear the whole time, he was still brooding about the fact that their date had been cut short.

He knew he should have expected things like this to happen, but why on the day that he had discovered that he _loved_ Annie? He wanted to spend the evening with her, not Stu and Barber. If the mood was right, he might have even shared his revelation with her.

And just maybe, she might say those coveted six words back to him. _I love you, too, maya dorogaya._

Just the thought of those words on her lips made him crazy with desire. And now… just an hour after Annie had been debriefed, they were driving around the D. C. area, looking at Christmas lights? Couldn't they have at least picked something to do that he could enjoy?

Provided he was actually in the mood to enjoy anything, that is.

As he buckled his seat belt sullenly, Annie turned to him. "Auggie, are you okay?" she whispered, reaching up and kissing his cheek gently as the two girls climbed into their seats and buckled their seatbelts.

He shrugged noncommittally as Dani slammed the side door for the van closed. "I'll be fine," he said tersely. _Really? This was going to be the first bone he picked with their relationship? That she was committed to her family?_

Besides, he hadn't even tried to tell her the plans he'd had for this evening. Not that he'd had opportunity—just as he had found Annie at her desk, fully debriefed, her telephone had rung. Danielle. Would they like to drive around, looking at Christmas lights? Of course they would.

What chance did he have to protest?

He pressed his face to the cool glass of the van as Michael pulled out into the street, listening as Chloe and Katia chattered excitedly about the lights they would see. He felt Annie's eyes on him—could practically taste her worry—but he didn't know what to say. His plans for the evening had been foiled, and he had to share Annie with four other people. He was in a sour mood.

Sue him.

He found, however, that as the ride progressed, the regrets rolled off his shoulders like freed burdens. There was something about taking a ride—he had always loved the journey, the relaxation. For a moment, he couldn't believe that the Brooks' had taken the joy of the journey and used it against him, but he couldn't hold the anger for long. Going for a ride was just so relaxing.

He slowly turned to rest back against the seat, and he reached for her hand apologetically.

"Auggie?" she tried again, turning to look at him. "Are you okay? What's the matter?"

He couldn't help but smile at Chloe's and Katia's exclamations of beautifully arranged lights and Santa's sleigh on the top of a house. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. "Yeah," he finally said. "I'm okay." He paused. "But I need to talk to you later."

She studied him curiously. "Okay…"

He wanted to groan. Just being next to her like this, smelling her perfume, was doing crazy things to him. He nuzzled his face into her hair. "Missed you," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear, before he trailed a series of kisses down the side of her neck.

The beginnings of a low moan rose up from her throat before she could stop herself, and she pushed him away, hissing, "Auggie, what are you doing? Chloe and Katia are _right_ in front of us!"

She was glad, in that moment, that they were squealing about an especially "awesome" Santa Claus, and all his little elves. _What was he thinking—trying to kiss her like that?_

He turned away, stung by her rejection. Maybe the timing wasn't quite right, he admitted, listening as the girls chattered away about the decorations as they drove down the street, but couldn't Annie see how much he had missed her? She was quickly becoming the most important person in his universe, and his news had been bottled up longer than he had wanted to wait. _I love you. I love you. I love you…_ The words repeated in his mind like a drum's cadence, begging to be let out.

She reached out and touched his shoulder tentatively. "Auggie?" she whispered. "Aug, I missed you, too. More than you know… but… my nieces are sitting right in front of us! Maybe I should have told Danielle another time. But we're here, Auggie. So can you please just make the best of it? I _promise_… I'll make it up to you. And I should have asked if it was okay before I told her yes. But I can't change that now…"

He squeezed her hand, resigned to what was happening. "It's okay," he said finally. "I'm a big boy. I can take it."

The silence spread between them uneasily for the next ten minutes, until Annie spotted a home that intrigued her. A huge sign in the middle of the yard read "Open to the Community," and the place was set up like a huge replica of the North Pole.

"Daddy, _look_!" the girls squealed, their faces plastered to the windows, and the van slowed.

"Michael?" Annie called spontaneously. "Can we get out and look around?"

Michael and Dani shared a look. "I dunno why not," Michael responded, and he found a parking spot nearby.

As they all piled out of the van and Michael locked it behind them, Annie tugged Auggie with her quietly. As soon as she saw that Michael, Danielle, and the girls were studying the Christmas decorations, she tugged Auggie behind a towering oak tree for a bit of privacy. She caressed his jaw lightly before pressing her lips to his. "I missed you so much," she whispered, and he kissed her back desperately, angling her mouth under his, as he deepened the kiss.

His arms were around her, tugging her closer, as her hands slid up into his hair. _Oh, yes, she had missed him_. She had missed his humor, his teasing, his kindness and patience, his strength, the way he made her go weak in the knees every time he pulled her into his arms. The way his chocolate eyes glistened when she was by his side. The way he treated her like the only girl deserving of attention.

She didn't know how it had happened, but she was definitely falling in love with this man. The thought of it both thrilled and terrified her. She pulled away, breathless, before resting her forehead against his. "I missed you," she whispered again. She remembered her twenty-four hours in Scotland, and how she had loved the conversations they stole from moment to moment. For the most part, this month, they had stayed in America together. Even when she had gone overseas, or even out of state, it was before… before she had started falling for Auggie.

He pressed his lips to hers desperately once more. "I missed you, too," he whispered. _I love you._ He wanted to say the words, more than anything, but they wouldn't come out.

She reached for his hand hesitantly. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you before I told Danielle yes. I just… I thought… I don't know what I was thinking," she admitted.

He kissed her one more time. "It's okay."

She tugged him toward the displays. "I knew you were miserable in the car," she said, pressing against his side as he slid his arm around her shoulders. Her arm snaked around his waist. "I knew we needed to talk, and I'm glad we did…"

"That was talking back there?" he asked, grinning down at her. "I thought that was something else entirely."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "Well, our mouths were moving a lot," she pointed out with a grin.

He grinned at her before claiming her lips in a brief kiss. "This is true."

She couldn't help the cheesy grin that was still covering her face. She loved being with this man way too much for her own good. She cleared her throat, continuing. "_But_… I also thought you could use something that you could appreciate, huh? All you could experience were the girls' exclamations and the lonely ride. I thought you might be able to appreciate this more, feel the decorations, you know."

He was touched by her consideration, and made special effort to make his characteristic humor, keeping the hair between them light. This definitely wasn't what he had planned, but it was loads better than sulking in the car.

For the following half hour, they ambled around the yard. Annie pointed out interesting displays, and Auggie felt everything she described. In between descriptions, they shared as much as they could about the past day, shared secrets, and laughed about the drama developing in the DPD regarding Jai and a certain cynical lady analyst from tech ops that he was developing a crush on.

When the six of them returned to the van a little while later, Annie and Auggie were cheerfully ready to enjoy the rest of their journey, which didn't prove to be that much longer. After all, the girls still had a bit of homework left, and it was six-thirty. Michael dropped Annie and Auggie off at the guesthouse, and continued on to their driveway.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 20, 2010

Annie's Driveway

By the time Auggie heard Michael pull away from Annie's driveway, he was already trying to figure out what to do. _Should he ask Annie?_ He definitely didn't want to go back to his apartment, to loneliness, but he was afraid Annie would be tired, since she had just returned from Scotland, and they had already spent time with Michael, Dani, and the girls.

"Annie?" he asked hesitantly.

She hummed, "Yeah, Aug?"

"I know we already did the Christmas thing with Michael and Dani, but, well… I had already planned our own Christmas thing…" he began.

She turned to look at him. "You did?"

"Yeah. I, uh, well—I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. I was about to ask you if you wanted to go on a last-minute date when Dani called."

"I'm sorry! I really should have asked you, huh?" she asked, reaching up to cup his cheek.

He hummed in reply. "I—I know you're probably exhausted from your trip to Scotland, but… I still haven't been able to cancel the reservations…"

"Let's go," she said impulsively, reaching up to kiss him briefly. "I'm not terribly tired… and I'm starting to think that you might come up with more awesome Christmasy things than I do."

He laughed. He had accidentally come across _Joyeux Noel_, the Christmasy restaurant, just the day before he had taken her there.

This date, he knew, would have to top their first, so he had been searching every spare moment he got once he realized their impromptu date two days ago was canceled. Strangely enough, the answer had come in Joan. She was more a romantic than it appeared, apparently, and had provided the _perfect_ date. He couldn't wait to take Annie out—he knew she was going to love it.

That is, if she didn't fall asleep in the meantime.

She said she was up to going out, but he had heard her couple stifled yawns in the van. She had said yes, though. He pushed the worries from his mind. There was no way he was backing out now.

She reached for his hand, tugging him toward the guesthouse. "C'mon," she said. "I am _not_ going on a date dressed like this."

He couldn't help laughing incredulously. "Dressed like _what?_" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "A pant-suit I've been wearing all day. It's a _date_, Aug, not a business meeting."

He smiled as she deposited him at her couch and searched through her closet quickly. "So where are we going?" she asked, turning to glance at him. "Or are you still going to try and keep it a secret?"

He sent her a happy, tender smile. "Mmm. I'll keep it a secret for now. All I'll say is dress nice and dress warm."

Nice _and_ warm? How exactly was she supposed to pull _that_ off? Heaving a sigh, she searched through her wardrobe once more. She turned to look at him once more. "You don't make it easy, do you?" she asked, frustrated, as she studied what he was wearing. A black suit, a lavender shirt, and a tie to match. He usually didn't wear a ton of color, but she decided she loved him in purple.

She reached for a wraparound lavender dress and a white cardigan sweater. She hadn't been trying to match his lavender shirt, but it was probably the warmest dress that could be suitable for the occasion. She frowned at him as she crossed the room to retrieve her make-up bag and a pair of earrings. "You know, it's a million times harder getting ready for a date with you in the room," she complained teasingly.

He grinned at her. "I don't know why. It's not like I can see anything."

She rolled her eyes before pressing a kiss to his lips on her way to the bathroom to get ready. "Does that really matter? It's still disconcerting!" she called over her shoulder before she shut her bathroom door.

When she reappeared fifteen minutes later, she slipped into the wool coat Auggie was holding out for her. "So, how'd I do?" she teased.

"Fabulous!" he teased back, kissing her briefly as they stepped outside before guiding her out to the car, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back. Sending her a teasing, slightly-confused look, he asked, "What exactly are you wearing?"

She giggled as she let him pull open her door for her. "Purple dress. White cardigan. Black flats. Silver earrings."

He tried to envision her, standing before him, adorably contented smile lingering on her face. He was glad she had decided to dress up. Leaning over the driver's door, he met her lips in a brief kiss. "Perfect," he said, and she sank into her seat while he felt his way around to the passenger seat.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 20, 2010

Tessa's Restaurant and Bar

Annie stopped short as she looked up at the elegant restaurant in front of her and the script of the words _Tessa's Restaurant and Bar_. She glanced at Auggie, speechless only for a moment. "You got reservations for _Tessa's_?" she asked incredulously. "On this short notice?"

He grinned at her surprise, glad he had impressed her. "Now you know why I didn't want to go with Michael and Dani." He nodded toward the restaurant, indicating that they should go inside. "Good thing I made the reservation for 7:30."

She smirked at his cheesy grin. "C'mon, Auggie, I'm starving."

When they were seated and their drinks were on their way, Annie stared across the table at him. "How in the world do you do this?"

His head came up, and his gaze settled on a spot just to the left of her face. "Do what?"

Her hands gestured to the table, the restaurant around them. "_All_ of this! It's like you're the king of perfect dates!"

He just grinned. "Thank you."

She groaned when she realized all she had done was boast his already incredibly cocky ego.

Choosing to ignore his smug grin, she turned to look at the menu. She had wanted to get into _Tessa's_ since she had started working at the CIA, but the reservations had been full weeks in advance. Yet, Auggie had managed to get them a table with two days notice.

The man was like Yoda.

She better not tell him that. He would take that as a compliment to boast his ego, too. _Greeeeat._

She couldn't help but smile at his confidence, though. Despite the fact that he thought extremely highly of himself, she knew he also struggled with who he was, now that he was blind. There wasn't anyone else in the universe she wanted to be with right now.

After they ordered, Auggie filled her in on the episodes of "The Adventures of the Tech Heroes" she had missed while in Scotland (surprisingly, there was a good many of them). Annie was glad that he took control of the date, entertaining her with his stories. She wasn't nearly as tired as she was sure he thought she was, but it was nice to come home to Auggie, especially when he made sure she didn't go crazy from the stress of the job.

She stared across the table, watching his animated, handsome face as he described his "scurrying minions" who made sure "Queen Annie" completed her day's agenda properly (of course, she loved her new title). She loved watching him talk. He was so animated, so excited, and he was right there, nothing keeping him back. He wanted to be right here, with her, and she loved his single-minded pursuit.

As they finished eating, Auggie paid for the meal, and they left the restaurant, stepping out into the crisp night air. Annie looked up at the sky and breathed in deeply. "_Now_ do you like winter?" she teased, glancing at him.

He tugged her away from the noise of the restaurant. "Mmhmm," he murmured.

"Wanna take a walk?" she offered, not ready to call it a night.

"I have a better idea," he said, a twinkle in his eye. "Where's the northeast corner of Rachel and Stark?"

"A-across the street," she said. "Why?"

"Oh, there's something waiting for us there," he said, barely able to contain his excitement.

She reached over to kiss his cheek. "What did you do, maya dorogaya?" she asked.

He just grinned smugly. "You'll have to see when you get there!"

She rolled her eyes. Auggie was up to something, and she wasn't sure she liked mischievous Auggie. It was downright endearing to watch, but she was a little afraid of the reality on the other side of the street. _What was he up to?_

When they came to a stop, Annie glanced around. "Auggie… I don't see anything. Just parked cars and a surprisingly empty street."

He smirked at her. "That's because it's not here yet. He promised he'd be here at exactly 9:00."

"Nine o'clock? Auggie, who is this guy?"

He tugged Annie into his arms, sensing her worry. "C'mon, Annie," he whispered, touching his forehead to hers gently. "Would I ever do anything to hurt you? Before we started dating, we were still best friends. I would never hurt you, Annie. You know that, right?"

She nodded, her forehead bobbing against his own. "Yeah, I know."

He reached in to claim her lips in a kiss. "Annie, I—"

He heard the sound of a horse's neigh, and, as Annie squealed in delight at the sight of the horse-drawn sleigh, he cursed silently. Sometimes, his timing was the _worst_.

_Annie, I love you._ The words had been _right_ there. And the timing was perfect. She was right there, right in his arms, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to say those four words.

He groaned as the driver helped Annie up, and he climbed up behind her. Would he _ever_ be able to tell her those words?

As the driver handed them the wool lap blanket, Annie turned to Auggie, pressing an excited kiss to his lips. "Auggie, did you really do this for me?" she asked, her voice laced with excitement.

He couldn't help but smile, pushing his disappointment down. Maybe he could tell her in a few moments. If the moment was right. "Well, it was Joan's idea…"

"Joan's?" she asked. "I didn't think that woman had a nice bone in her body."

He chuckled, tugging her closer. "She cares more than you think, babe."

She smiled as she snuggled closer. "So _this_ is why I needed to dress warm?"

"Mmhmm," he replied.

A moment later, the driver called back in a comical mix between a Scottish brogue and a Bostonian accent, "Ye warm enough back there?"

Annie giggled. "Yeah, we're fine." She studied the wide expanse of sky in wonder as the driver chattered on about the most romantic spots in the city.

"Thank you, Auggie," she whispered as they pulled back up to the corner of Rachel and Stark.

As they walked back to Annie's little red car, Annie snuggled against his side, chatting excitedly about their plans for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and how she had found him the _perfect_ Christmas present, and yes, he truly would _adore_ it…

He couldn't help but think that the only Christmas gift he wanted this year was Annie's love, but he didn't say anything. He couldn't bare to burst her joyful little bubble. For now, holding her in his arms would have to be enough.

It _wasn't_ enough, but for now, it would have to be.

**A/N:** Ugh, please don't hate me! I hate to end it on such an angst-ey note! I really hate having so much angst in this chapter period, haha, but it just seems to work for the rest of the story. I promise, the rest of the story… no more angst. Okay, a little. But nowhere near as much as this chapter. And hopefully I can satisfy all the questions this brings up. But I really do have it all planned out. So don't worry. It'll get resolved. Just maybe not as quickly as you'd hoped. :(

Review, please!


	19. The Singing Troup

**A/N:** Soooo. My sister accidentally stabbed my knuckle with the scissors when we were wrapping presents yesterday. Gash in my finger, bruised bone and potentially bruised muscles, swollen hand… not fun. :/ Not trying to complain about my pain, haha, but if it interferes with my posting, I figured I should let you know that's why. I seem to be on the up and up, but it was killing me when I woke up this morning… so, we'll see. I really want to keep my posts to one a day, but we'll see how that works, with holiday stuff this last week before Christmas, and how often I'll be working… and my lovely little injury. :) If this story goes a few days past Christmas, you won't kill me, right? ;]

**Disclaimer:** Not mine!

Chapter 19

The Singing Troup

December 21, 2010

Brooks Home

"Aunt Annie! Mr. Auggieeeee!" Chloe and Katia screamed as the couple entered the front door, running to them. As the girls hit their target, they let out overdramatic "Uhhh"s and wrapped their arms around them, grinning goofily up at their aunt and her boyfriend.

Annie grinned. "Hey, girls."

Chloe grinned as she looked up at her aunt. "Aunt Annie, where have you been? You promised you'd go caroling with us!"

Annie leaned down to kiss her cheek. "And so we are! But we had to stay a bit late for work today. Everyone is more generous at Christmas, huh? So there were many extra donations to the Smithsonian. My boss wouldn't let me leave until I got most of them categorized!"

"Oh, no!" Katia protested.

Annie grinned for them softly, ruffling their short hair affectionately before going in search of Danielle and Michael.

She found Dani in the living room, talking quietly to Ivy's mom. Annie noticed a small congregation had formed in the Brooks' living room. Ivy's parents, Ivy and Charlie, about a dozen people of varying ages that Annie didn't recognize. And, babbling amongst all of them, stood a beaming Mrs. Nash.

Annie didn't know whether she wanted to laugh, cry, or groan. Seeing Mrs. Nash once each December was fine, but now the woman was following her?

"Annie!" Danielle greeted as Ivy interrupted her mom. "Auggie's here, too?"

"Yeah. The girls… ah, waylaid him."

The sisters shared a knowing grin, and Dani jumped to explain. "Claire told Mrs. Nash about how we go Christmas caroling each year… and she decided that she simply _had_ to come along. And, ah, she was very anxious to bring along a bunch of friends from the church."

Annie managed a smile for the eccentric woman. "Hello, Mrs. Nash."

"Hello, Annabelle!" the woman called brightly in return.

Annie buried her grimace. Sometimes, the woman was just a _bit_ too enthusiastic about life. Annie was looking forward to a quiet evening with Dani, the girls, and Auggie. Now… now she was sure she'd be doing her best to avoid Mrs. Nash.

She pasted on as genuine a smile as she could muster, and the conversations buzzing around the room continued. Annie was relieved that the attention was now off of her. She groaned, though, when she noticed Mrs. Nash coming toward her.

At that moment, the girls dragged Auggie into the living room, and Mrs. Nash exploded again. "Augustus!" she said, positively glowing.

Auggie flashed Annie a deer-caught-in-the-headlights, purely-confused, almost-terrified look for a millisecond before a charming grin covered his face. "Mrs. Nash! How good to hear you again!"

She rushed to give him a hug, lingering a little longer than either Annie or Auggie would have liked. Mrs. Nash was oblivious. "I just wanted to tell you, Augustus, what a downright pleasure it was to have you volunteering at Mercy Chapel on Saturday… a positive thrill. We were all so excited to meet you. We hope Ivy and her family will bring you around more often," she gushed.

Annie and Auggie shared an amused grin over Mrs. Nash's head. "Well, I was glad I could help out," Auggie replied. "After my eyesight was taken from me, I always think it's important to give back to those who have less than we do. It was a pleasure meeting all of you."

Annie smirked behind Mrs. Nash. She knew Auggie really did care about those less fortunate than he was, and she knew his blindness had changed him, but, after sharing a good many laughs about Mrs. Nash since that afternoon, she wasn't so sure everything he said was exactly true.

Mrs. Nash's attention turned to Chloe and Katia, and Auggie called out tentatively, "Annie?"

"Over here, Auggie," she replied, reaching her hand out to him. "It's a straight path, nobody in between us."

She slipped into his arms when he arrived at her side. She could see the worry in his eyes. "Sorry, honey, I didn't know she was going to be here. I know her weird ways make you a little nervous."

He tried to ignore the way his heart skittered in his chest at the feel of Annie in his arms, at the way she called him _honey_. Burying his face in her soft hair, he mumbled, "I'm just afraid she's going to want to talk to me, and she'll pull me to the side and forget to tell me that I'm about to walk off the sidewalk into the road… And wouldn't that be a perfect time for a semi to come barreling by?"

She pulled back a little bit, too look up into his eyes. She had never seen so much vulnerability there. She leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to his lips. "I won't let that happen," she vowed. "Mrs. Nash will have hell to pay if she takes you away from me."

He smiled down at her. "I'm not going anywhere soon, babe."

She buried her face against his chest. "Good."

Annie snuggled deeper into his arms, and he held her tight, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair mixed with grapefruit. He noticed, not for the first time, how well Annie fit into his arms. _Just the right size_, he thought. He could hold Annie forever. He tried to ignore the buzzing conversations and chatter around him. Annie was in his arms. Auggie was fairly confident that he wouldn't have any opportunity to share his revelation with Annie today, either, but this—this was the next best thing. All his fretting, annoyance, and dread from yesterday were replaced with the desire to just be with Annie today. Sometime, someday, soon, he would find the perfect time to tell her. Until then, he just wanted to be with his girlfriend.

Being with Annie was infectious. She was happy and good and filled all the voids in his heart. Though he wished Annie wanted to move at a slightly faster pace, the torture of being with her like this, this sweet dance they were doing, was a million times better than the thought of how awful life would be without Annie in his life at all.

He leaned back a little bit and felt for her chin, his fingers dancing down her jaw. When he found it, he tilted her face up gently. Leaning in, he brought her lips to hers, kissing her slowly. He pulled away slowly, too, an adorably dazed look on his face. _How does she do that?_ he wondered. With one simple kiss, she could leave his mind in a cloud, and yet, he _always _wanted more.

Because he didn't want the whole world hearing his admission when he told her, he whispered the next best thing he could think of. "Thank you."

She giggled as she looked up at him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thank you?" she asked. "For what?"

His hand slid up to her ear, tucking a stray strand of hair behind it. "For… everything," he finally said. He was grasping for straws, and he knew it. He didn't really care, though. He had to say something, _anything_, to let her know how much she was coming to mean to him. "For kissing me like that. For coming back from Scotland in one piece. For being my girl." His line of sight flitted to where he heard Mrs. Nash gushing about how awesome _Augustus_ and _Annabelle_ were to helping their cause to feeding the hungry. He couldn't help the slow grin that slid up his face. "For protecting me from… _her_." He shuddered jokingly.

Annie giggled, reaching up to push some of his hair out of his glowing chocolate eyes before settling back into his arms. She liked being in his arms. It was safe and just a little bit heart-skittering. "That's what I'm here for," she teased.

Just as she was about to settle back against his chest, as they waited for some unknown person to arrive, Michael walked through the door. "Michael!" Annie heard Danielle exclaim, and Annie peeked around Auggie to see what was going on. "Where have you been?"

He shrugged out of his winter coat, handing a bag to the girls. "I told you work needed me to stay late today, remember? I told you I'd try and hurry. Besides, you asked me to bring the girls gloves, right?"

Dani sank back against the couch, humming in both remembrance and annoyance.

At that moment, Mrs. Nash was craning her neck to look around the room, her silvery curls bouncing as her head swung from one direction to the next. "Is everyone here?" she asked, as if she were more in charge than Danielle and Claire.

Claire smiled and patted Mrs. Nash's hand. "Yes, we're all here now, Mrs. Nash." She turned to Dani. "Are we all ready to go, Danielle?"

Danielle, nerves still a bit frayed from wondering where her husband was, nodded slowly, turning to make sure the girls were ready. Everyone moved toward the front door, talking amiably between themselves, and Annie slid her arm around Auggie's waist, guiding him toward the front door.

As they neared the first door, Mrs. Nash turned to everyone again, easily filling the role of running the show. "What song are we going to sing first?" she asked, studying the nearly twenty people behind her. Selections were called out, and she announced, "Away in a Manger it is!"

No one had suggested _Away in a Manger_, but she didn't seem to notice—or care.

"Ivelisse, why don't you go ring the doorbell?" Mrs. Nash asked, slipping into the name she usually called Chloe's best friend. Annie remembered that Mrs. Nash had actually called her _Ivy_ once on Saturday afternoon, and wondered what miracle had taken place that the woman had actually used her real name.

Ivy and Chloe shuffled to the door a bit nervously, ringing the doorbell. As they reached their spot next to Mrs. Nash, the woman, in an ear-splittingly awful rendition, began to sing the final verse of the Christmas carol.

Near the back of the group, Annie and Auggie cringed as most of the rest of the group either mumbled along or started singing the first verse.

A young mom, holding her sleeping baby to her chest, slowly pulled the door open and peered out, to see what the ruckus was all about. Mrs. Nash beamed proudly back at the young mother, finishing her off-key masterpiece, before gushing (quite loudly, at that), "Oh, your baby is so beautiful!"

The young woman held her baby closer. "Th-thank you," she stuttered. "You all sounded…" She paused, searching for the right word. "Lovely. I'm sorry to cut this short, though, but I have to put my baby girl to bed for the night…"

She closed the door quickly, and Mrs. Nash stood there, looking confused. Claire came up next to her. "Mrs. Nash," she said diplomatically, "we're very glad you and some of the church members were so excited to come and sing with us. But do you mind if Danielle and I lead out, like we do every year?"

Mrs. Nash patted Claire's cheek affectionately. "Of course, Clareliese," she said. "I don't know where my manners are these days!"

Claire leaned down to hug her. "It's quite all right, Mrs. Nash."

As Claire and Danielle led the group on to the next house, they all collectively decided on _O Little Town of Bethlehem_, and, as they began to sing, the couple that came to the door actually _beamed_ and complimented the group's sound.

Annie merely laughed, though. Had no one heard Mrs. Nash's off-key, screeching voice from the middle of the group?

As they walked down the road, Auggie found himself mesmerized by the sound of a sweet, nearly angelic voice singing next to him. "You can sing?" he asked, immediately wanting to take the words back as soon as they were said. _What kind of boyfriend asked his girl that?_ He wanted to slap himself in the face.

Annie simply laughed next to him. "I guess. Why?"

_Did he really have to tell her?_ "You… ah, you were kinda screeching at the top of your lungs when we were decorating the guesthouse with those Christmas balls earlier this month," he said hesitantly.

She giggled again. "Really? Auggie, have you never sung badly, just because you can sing louder that way? I was just letting off steam," she laughed. "I thought you'd think I was crazy, but the girls always love it when I sing like that."

"Oh." He managed to laugh, too. "Sing again," he asked, leaning in close until he claimed her lips in a kiss.

"No!" she protested quietly, pulling away. Her mind slowly began to change, though, as she saw the hopefully adorable look lingering on his face. "I don't want to sing now, not by myself."

"Oh, now you're self-conscious?" he asked, laughing incredulously, his teasing smile lingering.

She rolled her eyes and nudged him with her shoulder, trying to think up a reason _not_ to sing. She couldn't think of any, though. Slowly, she began humming _The First Noel_ sweetly. The people around her began to join in the song, too, and she finally joined in with the words.

As Annie sang sweetly next to him, leaning into his approval, he thought that this raw, unrehearsed music, filling the still night air, Annie leading them all, was the most beautiful sound he had heard in a very long time.

**A/N:** Five chapters after this! Can't believe it's almost over! :(

Review, please!


	20. The Package Party

**A/N:** Awww. I soooo loved writing this. It came out completely different from what I was expecting, and I really didn't expect to love it so much… but ah, I loved every bit of this. :) I'm really starting to LOVE writing for these two. :)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine!

Chapter 20

The Package Party

December 22, 2010

DPD

Annie didn't even look up from her paperwork as she reached for her telephone. "Annie Walker," she replied.

"Aunt Annie!" two voices shouted, almost in unison. "Aunt Annie, when are you coming home?"

Annie smiled softly, glancing at her watch and then the paperwork she had to finish. It was already 4:01. "I dunno, sweetie," she said. "I still have a bit of work to do."

Chloe groaned overdramatically. "Aunt Annie, we'll _never_ finish it!"

Annie tried to hold back her laughter, humoring her. "Never finish what, sweetie?"

"Wrapping Mommy's presents! Please? Can we please come over when you're done with work? Pretty pleeeeease, Aunt Annie?"

Annie didn't try to hide the slow smile and chuckle this time. "I guess," she finally agreed. "But I probably won't be home for two hours, 'kay?"

"Okay!" Chloe squealed. She didn't bother trying to cover the phone as she turned to Katia. "She said yes!"

Annie smiled as she listened to their delighted squeals in the background. "Okay, sweetie. I gotta go, okay? So we can still wrap presents tonight."

"Okay! Love you, Aunt Annie! Bye!"

"Bye!" Katia echoed from across the room.

Annie was laughing as the phone disconnected, and she turned back to her paperwork.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Annie stood outside tech ops, watching with a smile as Auggie leaned back in his chair, spinning to face Stu and Barber as he gloated over some victory. He looked so proud, and she couldn't help thinking she was glad for whatever had made him feel so confident.

As Annie decided to make her entrance, Stu and Barber filed out of his office, rolling their eyes. Auggie called out another sarcastic, gloating remark, and Barber groaned. "He's in a rare kinda mood today," he mumbled, his annoyance clear, and Annie only smiled.

It looked like Auggie was in a good mood to her.

She peeked into the room, tiptoeing over to him, seeing how close she could get before he would recognize her. She had barely taken her second step into the room before he called out, "Annie!"

She smiled as she sauntered the rest of the way over to him. "Hey, handsome," she said, leaning her hip against his desk.

He turned to face her, a smug grin covering his face. "What did I do to deserve a visit from the lovely Annie Walker?" he asked, and she laughed.

"I dunno what you did, but it looks like you did something," she commented.

He sent her a look that was a comical mix between smugness and a tender smile. "Oh, I just cracked practically impenetrable encryption software," he said, rocking back in his chair proudly.

The last time he swung back in his chair, he swung it in her direction. Before he could lean back so he was facing her direction again, she leaned in to give him a kiss.

He stilled as his head turned to meet hers. "What was that for?" he asked, his mind still a little foggy from her kiss.

She grinned. "I had to wipe that ridiculous grin off your face somehow," she teased.

His grin grew even wider, if that was possible, as he tugged her into his lap. Nuzzling his face into her sunny hair, hanging in soft ringlets around her face, he whispered, "I don't think it worked."

She couldn't help grinning like a fool as his lips came to meet hers again. She wanted to get lost in his embrace, his affection, but with the threat of Joan rounding the corner any moment, she knew this wasn't the time. "Auggie…" she whispered, pulling away.

He tugged her closer again. "Why do you have to talk? Kissing doesn't require any words," he said, his eyebrows wagging at her teasingly.

She pulled back again. "You do realize your office has glass walls, right, honey? Joan could come around the corner any second."

He groaned as she slipped back to her spot at his desk. "Why do you have to torture me like this?"

She grinned back at him. "Torture you?" she scoffed, a grin covering her features. "I'm just trying to keep from getting fired."

"I told you the first day you came here that they promote inter-agency relationships."

She grinned back at him. "I remember. But that doesn't mean the whole DPD should get a peep show."

He leaned back in his chair again, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Sooo… Did you just come in here for kissey-kissey time, or was there actually a reason for Queen Annie to grace the hallowed halls of the Tech Warriors?" he teased, grinning up at her.

She snorted at him. "Kissey-kissey time?" she asked incredulously.

He shrugged his shoulders easily. "Sure, why not? What would you like to call it?"

She rolled her eyes. "I dunno. Why _kissey-kissey time_?"

"Well, that's what we were doing, wasn't it? I'm not always witty and charming, I'll have you know," he said, looking back at her smugly.

She laughed as she leaned over to plant a brief kiss against his lips. "Okay. We can call it kissey-kissey time. But no, that's not why I came in here, originally."

His eyes followed her as she leaned back against the desk. "So, what exactly did you come over here for?"

"Chloe and Katia have a proposition for you."

"Another miraculous cure for a neck-ache?"

She giggled. "Not quite. And I don't suppose it was really their idea. But they're coming over to wrap Dani's presents. Wanna come?"

He leaned forward in his chair, grinning up at her. _Did he want to spend the evening with his girlfriend? Was he _breathing_ at the moment?_ Quickly logging off his computer, he felt for a file setting on his desk. "'Course. Just gotta drop this off with Joan first."

He grabbed his coat and bag on their way out, both content and giddy when Annie's hand slipped into his.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 22, 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

By the time Annie and Auggie arrived at the guesthouse, Chloe and Katia were already waiting at the front door. "Aunt Annie!" they called. "Mr. Auggie!"

Annie smiled as she and Auggie walked up the sidewalk toward the house. "Hey, beautiful," she whispered affectionately to each niece before brushing their bangs away from their foreheads and kissing them each gently. "Ready to wrap some presents?"

"Shhhhh!" the girls hissed, following her into the house.

"Mommy's spying on us!" Katia explained, hugging her backpack tightly to her chest. Chloe followed suit.

"Yeah!" the younger of the two echoed. "She's been asking us questions _all_ afternoon!" She paused, looking at the windows suspiciously. "She thinks she's _so_ smart!"

Annie and Auggie shared an amused look and an incredulous laugh. "I don't think you're mom's that worried about what she's getting for Christmas," Annie said.

"Yes, she _is_!" Chloe insisted, holding her backpack tightly with one hand while she tugged the curtains shut with her other hand. Katia did the same thing with the other windows. Satisfied with their efforts, they dropped to the floor at the base of Annie's bed. "Aunt Annie, where's your wrapping paper?"

Annie reached under her bed and brought forth five different rolls of wrapping paper, and the girls set about deciding which paper they wanted for each paper. As they decided, Annie left to make hot cocoa for them all, and the girls called in unison, not looking up from the paper, "Mr. Auggie! Guard the door!"

Amused, Auggie stood his ground at the door, his hand resting on the doorknob. "Aye-aye, cap'ns," he said, saluting a little to the left of where they sat, and the girls giggled.

"You're funny, Mr. Auggie," they decided with smug grins, nodding significantly.

His eyes twinkled as his head turned in the direction of their voices. "I'm glad you approve."

Katia was beginning to cut out the paper for her first box, but Chloe looked a little confused. "Aunt Annie?" she asked, frustration leaking into her voice as she turned the paper first one direction, then the next.

Annie glanced over at her nieces from the hot cocoa she was bringing to them all. Handing a mug to Auggie, she whispered, "Careful, honey, it's hot." Turning to Chloe, she said, "Yeah, baby girl? What's up?"

Chloe dropped the paper and the box in frustration. "It doesn't work."

Annie set a mug next to Katia's knee, and handed another mug to Chloe. "C'mon, babe, I'll help you," she said with a soft smile, turning the roll of paper and the box in a direction suitable to her. After cutting the paper, she took a sip of her own hot cocoa and handed Chloe the tape. Holding the paper in place, she nodded to where Chloe should place the tape. "Right there, babe."

Grunting when the tape stuck to her finger, Annie patiently waited, letting her figure it out. They continued in this fashion, until the package was wrapped. Annie found the box of bows and nametags, and waited for Chloe to pick which ones she wanted to use.

As Chloe dug through the box, studying each bow and nametag, she called out importantly, "Mr. Auggie?"

"Yeah, Chloe?" he replied.

"Is the house still secure?" she demanded seriously, not looking up from the box. She victoriously held up a bow and a nametag that she fancied before handing them to Annie. Annie helped Chloe attach the bow, and handed her a pen to write "To Mommy, from Chloe" on the nametag before attaching it to the present.

Annie and Auggie barely held back a laugh from Chloe's question. Auggie felt for the peephole, pretending to look through it. "No mommies out there!" he called, and the two girls giggled.

"Mr. Auggie, what do you see out there?" Chloe asked, her tongue sticking out between her lips in concentration as she found the perfect spot for the nametag.

He turned toward the girls mischievously. "A monster of the deep! And it's gonna come and get you!" he called, building the suspense, pretending to watch the window fearfully.

Katia giggled and rolled her eyes, eying Auggie lazily. "Mr. Auggie, a monster of the deep wouldn't survive in our yard! They live in _water_!" she protested.

They all laughed as Auggie turned to face them, his back leaning against the door, hands crossed across his chest, as his gaze followed the sound of their movements lazily. As Katia finished wrapping her second small present, and Chloe went to find a Christmas movie for them all to share, Annie ambled over to Auggie. Leaning in, she kissed him softly, briefly. "Glad you came?" she asked, leaning against the door next to him.

Reaching for her hand, he intertwined their fingers before he tugged her closer. Slowly, he met her lips in a kiss, grinning like a fool the whole time. When she pulled away, he replied with a smug smile, "Definitely."

As Chloe found the perfect Christmas movie, she turned around and skipped over to Annie and Auggie, all the while, protesting, "Ewwww! Aunt Annie! Mr. Auggie! No more kissey-kissey time. We gotta watch the _movie_!"

Annie and Auggie laughed as they broke apart, and Annie asked, "Did you tell her about…"

He laughed incredulously. "No, why would I tell her?"

Annie laughed and tugged Auggie to the couch, and the two girls ran to join them, Chloe piling on top of Annie's lap while Katia cuddled up next to Auggie. Chloe bounced on Annie's lap as she demanded, "Play the movie! Play the movie!"

Annie laughed as she fumbled with the remote, finally getting the movie to play. As the opening credits for _The Grinch who Stole Christmas_ began to roll, Annie slipped her hand into Auggie's and rested her head against Auggie's shoulder. As the girls became immersed in the movie, Annie whispered, "Auggie?"

He turned to face her. "Hmm?" he whispered in return.

Her breath caught in her throat at the tender, adoring look on his face. "I, uh—" _What was she about to say, again?_ "Nothing," she muttered, dropping her head to his shoulder again.

They watched the movie for a few more moments in silence. "Annie?" Auggie finally whispered.

She lifted her head to look at him. "Hmm?"

He reached up and guided her jaw until their lips met. "I—"

Chloe spun around, a childlike, innocent wrath firing in her eyes. Wagging her right index finger at them, she scolded, "I. Said. _NO_. More. Kissey-Kissey Time!" She paused, glaring them down. "Watch the movie!"

She spun around before any more words could be exchanged, and Annie and Auggie snickered together at being caught. Deciding it would be better to forego further scolding, they both faced the television screen, focusing on the movie. Their hands, however, remained intertwined between them, and Auggie caressed the back of her hand gently with his thumb, willing her to understand the truth, as her head came to rest against his shoulder again.

Still, discovery would have to wait until later.

**A/N:** Special thanks to Beth – Geek Chick, for inspiring "kissey-kissey time." I saw it in one of her author notes in 20 Questions (btw, if you haven't read it… read it. It's fabulous. :))))), and I knew I had to use it. :) Thought Auggie and Chloe using it would be just fabulous. :)

Also… I've been trying to decide… A few of you have been requesting that I continue this _next_ December. And I have no qualms doing that—probably won't be quite as long, though—but the way I had planned to finish it, it doesn't leave much room for continuation next Christmas, or any other Christmas, for that matter. Anyway… so, would you rather see the epilogue/final ending for this now, and then a totally different Christmas story next year (which, there DEFINITELY would be—I'm too in love with writing Christmas stories to not do something every year, haha), or would you rather a less definite conclusion, and finish it up next year? I'll definitely take your thoughts into consideration… I think it might work better to have a new Christmas story next year, just with how I have had it planned, but I figured I'd see what you guys were thinking before I finish it. :)

Review and let me know what you think, please! :)


	21. The Personal Discovery

**Disclaimer:** Not mine!

Chapter 21

The Personal Discovery

December 23, 2010

DPD

She had been watching him all day. Across the cafeteria, from her desk in the DPD, as he interacted with Barber and Stu, during the briefing in the conference room, even when he had that hush-hush meeting with Joan just after lunch.

She hadn't been able to forget that look on his face from last night. Tender and completely adoring… as if—as if what? She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone flash that kind of look at her, not even when she was madly in love with Ben. What did it mean?

So she had followed him with her eyes, thinking that maybe, just maybe, if she watched him closely enough, she would be able to understand that tender, heart-stopping look.

"Annie?"

His curious, tender voice brought her out of her thoughts. Her words caught in her throat at the sight of him, dressed in black dress pants and a deep navy dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His dark hair curled deliciously around his ears, and his chocolate eyes were glowing back at her. The mixed scent of his cologne and his aftershave were wafting toward her, and… goodness, she had been attracted to him for weeks now, but what was this? It was like she was seeing him in a completely different light.

She reached out and squeezed his hand. "Hi," she squeaked out.

At the moment, it was about all she could manage. She felt like she was back in high school, with another crazy crush.

"You okay?" he asked gently, turning to lean against the side of her desk.

Swallowing hard, she said, "Yeah. Fine."

He wasn't sure he believed her, but he let the comment slide. He reached up and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Missed you today. You didn't even come and say hi," he teased.

"Joan, ah—Joan had me working on a ton of translations," she said feebly.

"Mmm," he hummed, threading their fingers together as he turned in the direction of her voice. "So what's today's Christmasy activity?" _Something low-key?_ he pled silently. It was two days before Christmas, after all, and he didn't want Christmas to pass them by without telling her his news.

"Well… I didn't really have any plans," she admitted. "But Chloe and Katia made me _promise_ that I'd bring you over tonight, so they can rearrange the Christmas presents with you."

"Rearrange the Christmas presents?" he asked.

"Yeah. Every year they do it multiple times. I am surprised they haven't done it yet. They take all the presents out from under the tree, separate them by who they belong to, and figure out who is getting the most presents, and then they put them back under the tree, spreading them out as far as possible, so it looks like half the room is covered with Christmas presents."

Auggie snorted as he glanced in her direction. "Really?" he asked incredulously.

She laughed as she bumped her shoulder against his. "Yeah, honey," she said with a soft smile, her heart swelling at the idea of being with him the rest of the evening. "You must have been Scrooge when you were a kid."

He laughed. "I probably was. We never did that."

Annie laughed. "Yeah, well, Dani and I didn't, either. The girls thought it up all on their own." She tugged on his hand. "C'mon. You'll love it," she said, grinning at him.

He let her tug him toward tech ops to retrieve his coat and bag, and then they left for Danielle's house.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 23, 2010

Brooks Home

Annie slowly rounded the corner, nursing her cup of coffee, and she leaned against the doorjamb, watching as the girls interacted with Auggie. Katia handed a present to Chloe, who read the nametag. "Mommy!" she announced, and the package was placed precariously atop the growing "Mommy pile."

Annie watched with interest as the girls laughed and handed out presents and teased Auggie. Sipping her coffee, she watched with a smile as Auggie dished it right back out to them, teasing them about school and homework and how Santa was going to come and steal their presents again for torturing a poor, helpless blind man. "We don't believe in Santa anymore, Mr. Auggie!" they squealed back at him, thoroughly enjoying their time together. "Besides, you can't be helpless."

"Why not?" he had scoffed in return.

"Because you saw the monster of the deep yesterday!" Chloe said, crossing her arms across her chest importantly. "So that must mean you can see!"

"I cannot!" he argued back. "Don't you know, you can only see monsters of the deep in your _mind_?" He tapped his head to prove his point.

Katia rolled her eyes. "Even Chloe know _that_ can't be true Mr. Auggie."

Then they had all laughed, and Chloe had climbed onto his lap, tugging his arms around her. Katia scowled at the two of them. "Chloe! C'mon, you have to help me separate the presents!"

Groaning, Chloe turned around in Auggie's arms and gave him a childish hug. "I love you, Mr. Auggie!" she said, quickly, as if it was the most natural thing for her to say. "You're going to _love_ Christmas this year!" She paused, slipping off his lap. "You and Aunt Annie are coming over tomorrow night, right? We get to open _one_ present, and we're gonna tell the story about Baby Jesus. And you're gonna love it! We're gonna watch _Elf_ and eat Mommy's cookies and drink hot cocoa… and… and then, we have to go to bed. Because Mommy says she still has lots of presents and stuff to wrap, and we're not allowed to watch." She glanced at Auggie as she dropped the next package in Katia's pile of presents. "Are you excited, Mr. Auggie? Christmas is the very best time of all the year!"

He smirked in her general direction. "Yeah, Chloe, I'm excited." His smile softened as he heard Annie adjusting her position at the door, and he offered her another of his heart-stopping, tender grins. He slowly felt his way around the piles of Christmas presents, until he was standing before Annie. He reached for her waist, pulling her into his arms. "Where have you been?"

"Right here," she said, and he could imagine her easy smile. "Watching you."

He reached up, his hand caressing her cheek, as he leaned in. "And why would you be doing that?" he whispered.

She closed the distance between them, kissing him slowly. Her lips were so soft. She tasted of coffee and mint. Mmm. He could definitely get used to this.

They heard a little "ahem" behind them, before the little voice's owner tapped Auggie's back impatiently. "What did I tell you about kissey-kissey time?" she demanded.

Annie smiled at her niece. "We'll be right back, 'kay?" she asked. "You and Katia keep separating the presents. We'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"Where are you going?" she asked, eying them suspiciously.

Annie laughed. "Just into the kitchen. Auggie's gonna need some coffee if he's gonna hang around you hooligans all night."

Chloe grinned at that. After receiving Katia's nod of approval, Chloe said, "Okay. But hurry up. And NO kissey-kissey time!"

Annie grinned before reaching to ruffle Chloe's hair affectionately. "Okay, half-pint."

Chloe scowled at her teasingly. "Don't call me that!"

Annie laughed as she tugged Auggie into the kitchen, kissing him again when she was sure her niece wasn't looking.

Auggie pulled back and asked teasingly, "I thought you promised no kissey-kissey time."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, puh-lease. If we're gonna hang out with the dynamic duo in there all night, I need at least one good kiss to hold me over."

A slow smile slid up his face as his hands came to cup hers. "Just one kiss?"

She smiled against his lips. "We'll start there," she whispered a moment before his lips claimed hers.

As slid her arms up around his neck, he pulled her closer, and she couldn't believe she'd settled for just _watching_ him all day, not when they could have been working together half the day, eating lunch together in the cafeteria. He was strong and funny and kind, and he adored her.

Quite frankly, she adored him, too.

The thought both jolted and thrilled her. She _adored_ him? No, she _loved_ him. With everything in her. He made her laugh. He had healed every broken piece of her heart. He was kind and good and strong, and he understood her—every bit of her. She didn't care that he couldn't see—he didn't need to see her to know her, to be there for her, to give her the perfect dates, to make her feel whole again. Oh, _yes_—she loved him.

The realization jolted her, and she kissed him back with a passion she didn't know she had in her. _I love you. I love you. I love you._ Now that she knew, she wanted to say the words over and over again. _I love you, Auggie_. As he pulled back, pressing a kiss to her brow as he caressed her cheek gently, affectionately, she whispered, "Auggie, I—I need to tell you someth…"

She heard two sets of pitter-patter footsteps in front of her, and she peaked around Auggie to see her two nieces standing there, feet planted firmly in the floor, hands resting on their hips persistently, as they scowled back at her.

She managed a smile for her nieces, willing the fuzzy cobwebs in her mind to go away. "What's up, pipsqueaks?"

Chloe frowned more severely. "You better not have been kissing Mr. Auggie."

Katia nodded her head significantly. "Yeah. We're just gonna stand here, and make sure you and Mr. Auggie don't have any more kissey-kissey time."

"What about the presents?"

"Oh, they're separated already. You make coffee too slowly."

Annie smiled and reached for the coffee pot, grateful the pot was still half-full after she had brewed some for herself. She reached for a mug from the cupboard and poured him some coffee, handing him the mug as she finished.

The two girls eyed them suspiciously. Then Chloe pointed toward the living room, a fiery, don't-question-me-I-mean-business look in her eyes. "Okay. Let's go. We've got presents to count!"

Annie laughed into Auggie's bicep as she slipped her hand into his. "I hope that was enough to tide you over," Auggie whispered to her. "Because I don't think we'll ever be able to kiss in front of them ever again, so long as we both shall live."

Annie laughed as she pressed a quick kiss to his shoulder. "I'm okay for now."

He grinned over at her as they both sank to the ground behind their separate piles of packages. "Good."

As Chloe and Katia paraded around the room, counting presents and determining where each present would fit under the tree, Annie threaded her fingers through Auggie's and resting her head against his shoulder.

She _loved_ him. The thought made her giddy with excitement. She breathed in the smell of Auggie's cologne as she snuggled against him, watching the girls with a soft smile.

She was _in love_.

**A/N:** I had planned to write more, after this, but this just seemed perfect, just the way it was. Kinda short, but I think it's a perfect lead-in for the last three chapters. Besides, the next three chapters are probably going to be longer, seeing that there will be a multitude of very awesome Christmasy (and lovey-dovey) things. :)

Soo. Hope it met everyone's expectations! I think a bunch of you thought Annie already realized she was in love, but, well… that's not how I really saw it, haha, and I really wanted to include when both Annie and Auggie realized they loved each other. :) Which is why Auggie's declaration has been prolonged. :*(

Anywhoo. Sooo, review please! I'd love to know what you think!


	22. The Awaited Eve

**A/N:** Ohhhh, you guys are going to love me for this. :) I hope so, at least, lol. That's all I'm gonna say! Let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** not mine!

Chapter 22

The Awaited Eve

December 24, 2010

Brooks Home

"C'mere," Auggie whispered, tugging on Annie's hand.

Stumbling toward him, her hand fell from the doorknob, and she studied his face. "Auggie, what are you—"

His hand slid up to cup her face, and he said with an easy grin, "Well, seeing that the kissing police are probably in full force tonight, what with being souped up on a lethal combination of candy canes and adrenaline, and all, I figured I needed at least one good kiss to hold me over."

She laughed at his words. "Thought you could use my own words against me, huh?" she asked as she kissed him softly.

When she was about to pull away, his arm hooked behind her neck and tugged her back. "Nuh-uh," he whispered huskily, claiming her lips again.

Out of the dozens of kisses they'd shared over the past month or so, none of them were like this—full of hope, excitement, future, and, most of all, the new love they now shared. After all the kisses they'd shared, each one still felt new and full of promise.

He angled his mouth over hers, tasting her more deeply. How was it possible that he could never taste enough of her? It was like she was an enigma he couldn't solve. He wasn't sure he wanted to, either, he decided.

Her hands slid up and tangled in his hair, and—

"Hey, lovebirds!"

_Not again._ Would he _ever_ be able to kiss his girlfriend without interruptions? Groaning, he pulled away slowly, and Annie buried her face in the hollow of his neck. Holding her close, protectively, he turned in the direction of Danielle's voice.

With what he was sure was a twinkle in her eye (he wouldn't put it past her, anyway—he didn't have to see it to imagine it), she said, "Merry Christmas Eve!"

"Merry Christmas," Auggie groaned in return.

"Are you two lovebirds coming inside? Or are you going to keep up kissey-kissey time out here?"

Annie groaned as she turned in his arms, her own arm snaking around his middle. "You know about kissey-kissey time?" she asked, dread filling her voice.

Danielle rolled her eyes and smirked. "It's all Chloe talks about now. 'Mommy, Aunt Annie and Mr. Auggie are _so_ cool, but why do they always have to have kissey-kissey time? It's _sooooo_ gross!'" she laughed, imitating her daughter.

She reached out for their hands. "C'mon," she said. "Come inside. Before you shiver to death. They'll be all the time in the world for kissey-kissey time after the girls go to bed."

Annie blushed profusely, and hid against Auggie's side as Danielle led them into the living room.

"Aunt Annie!" Chloe and Katia exclaimed, running to greet their aunt. After receiving hugs from their aunt, Chloe noticed Annie's lingering blush. "Aunt Annie, why are your cheeks red?"

Danielle smirked. "Aunt Annie was outside, and it's very cold out there."

"Oh," she said, skipping to her rocking chair on the other side of the room. Katia followed suit. "Is it time for us to tell our story now, Mommy?"

Danielle smiled, sinking to her spot on the couch. "Yeah, sweetie. We're all here now."

Sitting primly in their rocking chairs, back rigid, ankles crossed, hands dropped in their laps in a rare show of prim-and-proper, Chloe began their story. "Once upon a time, a long time ago…"

"There was a very beautiful maiden," Katia continued. "She was very beautiful, and kind, and helpful. Just the kind of woman every girl was supposed to be back then."

"She was a very special young woman, though," Chloe explained seriously. "Her name was Mary, and she was the mommy of a very, _very_ special Baby."

"Yes," Katia added. "That baby was very special, indeed. Do you know what He did? He came all the way from heaven to save the world from all the bad things that we have done. And when he grew up to be a man, he died on a cross to rescue the world from certain death. He was very brave and kind and good, and He never once sinned against His Father, God."

"Mmhmm," Chloe said, nodding importantly. "So, Mary was cleaning her house one day when an angel of the Lord came to her! And she was very afraid! Because the angel was very, very big, and very strong, and fierce." She stood to her feet and climbed on top of her rocking chair. "He was _this_ big!" she said, stretching as high as she could and holding her hand as high as it would go.

"Ch-chloe-ee," Danielle called hesitantly, her face crinkled in a worried frown.

With a smile, Chloe dropped back down into her rocking chair, the chair rocking back and forth a little more than usual at the momentum of her jump.

Katia scowled at her little sister. "Nuh-uh. Angels are _good_! They're not scary!"

Chloe frowned at her. "But Mary was _astonished_! That's what my teacher said!"

Annie giggled into Auggie's arm, and Danielle called from across the room. "Okay. We don't know if the angel looked scary or not. But Mary was confused and astonished, okay? Keep going."

Both girls looked at each other, annoyance still in their gazes, and the sighed heavily. "Ohhh-kay," Chloe finally said, drawing the word out dramatically. "Anyway… so the angel was standing in front of Mary, and she was looking at him, surprised and astonished. And then the angel said to Mary, 'Mary, do not be afraid! For God is pleased with you! You are gonna be a _mommy_!'" She scowled at Katia. "See? The angel told her not to be afraid! The angel was _scary_!"

Danielle cleared her throat. "That's enough, Chloe."

Katia rolled her eyes and continued the story. "Anyway, Mary was very surprised by the news. She didn't know what to think. How could _she_ be a mommy? She wasn't even married yet!"

"Yeah," Chloe continued, not ready to be done sulking yet, but not wanting her sister to take all the glory. "But the angel said to her, 'God has found favor with you, Mary! You shall carry God's Son.'" She paused. "Mommy, what does that mean?"

"What does what mean, honey?"

"That God had found favor with her…"

Danielle smiled. "It just means that God chose her, sweetie. Keep going."

"Oh," she said. "Anyway, so Mary was very scared, but she decided to do it anyway. Because _nobody_ can argue with God!"

"Yeah," Katia said. "But her fiancé, Joseph, wasn't so sure. He was very, very angry! Because Mary was pregnant, but he didn't have sex with her yet! So that meant she was _cheating_ on him! And he was very, very mad. He was going to divorce her!"

"Yeah!" Chloe echoed, getting into the spirit of the story. "So then the angel had to go see Joseph, too, cuz he was gonna do a very bad thing to the mommy of Jesus! So the angel came to see Joseph in the middle of the night."

"Joseph was very confused," Katia explained. "But the angel calmed him, just like he calmed Mary. And he said to Joseph, 'Mary is pregnant, but not because of anything man did—she is pregnant with God's Son! Don't you dare divorce her! And when that baby's born, name him Emmanuel! Because He will save the world from their sins!'"

Annie laughed against Auggie's arm again. "I don't think that's exactly how it happened," Annie whispered.

Auggie laughed, too. "You have to admit it's entertaining, though."

Not realizing they had been so amusing, the girls were already continuing their story. "Yeah! So Joseph went to see Mary the next day, and he said to her, 'Mary, I am so so so sorry that I doubted you! I love you so much! And I will still marry you!'"

Katia continued, "So they stayed engaged for most of the rest of the pregnancy. But then, when it was almost time for baby Jesus to be born, the horrible king of the land decreed that everybody had to go to the town where they were born, so the king could collect his taxes and take a census!" For Chloe's benefit, she explained, "That's when they count everybody who lives in the country."

"Oh," Chloe said, seeming to ponder the idea for a moment. "_Then_ do you know what happened?" she asked her audience.

Obediently, they gravely shook their heads _no_.

With a gleam in their eyes, the girls continued. "Joseph didn't want to take Mary all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because he was afraid she would have her baby on the journey there! But Mary knew she had to go."

"Why?" Chloe asked curiously, studying her big sister.

Katia rolled her eyes. "I dunno, Chloe! Maybe an angel told her she had to go!"

"Oh."

Katia continued the story. "Anyway, so they traveled all the way to Bethlehem on a little donkey! That donkey was _soooooo_ annoying… All the way there, he kept saying, 'Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw.'" Her head bounced comically from one side to the other at each "hee" and "haw." "Would _you_ like to hear that on a long journey?" she asked, voice filled with exasperation, and the four adults shook their heads _no_ gravely. "I didn't think so!"

"It was nice for Mary, though," Chloe explained. "She got to ride the donkey the whole way! That was nice. But poor Joseph had to walk the whole way! His feet hurt so badly, and he was thirsty, and tired, and that stupid donkey didn't want to behave…"

"Chloe…" Danielle warned.

She hung her head in shame. "Sorry, Mommy." She corrected herself, omitting the offending word. "That _mean_ donkey didn't want to behave… but they FINALLY got to Bethlehem!"

"Finally!" Katia echoed. "But they had _another_ problem! It was so awful. There weren't any open rooms in _any_ of the hotel rooms in the WHOLE town! But Mary was already having contractions, and Joseph _knew_ Baby Jesus was coming soon."

"Yeah," Chloe interjected. "So finally, Joseph found a hotel guy to let them use his manger! I mean, his barn. And he went and got Mary, and he took her there."

"Yeah, and then the Baby was born! It was _soooo_ magical. He was the _King_ of the Universe, but now He was just a baby, a crying Baby in Mary's arms. And then… then the most magical things happened to them. Smelly shepherds and important magi came to see their Baby, and little old people like Anna and Simeon came to see them, and Anna and Simeon blessed baby Jesus, and he was growing up, and then, one day, _baam!_ Jesus died on the cross, to save us from all our awful sins," Katia concluded.

"Yeah," Chloe added. "And Merry Christmas!"

"And that's it!" Katia finished.

The four adults in the room clapped wildly for their performance, and the girls curtsied profusely, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" they called over and over, dancing around the room excitedly.

Annie grinned at her nieces' excitement as she tucked her feet underneath her, leaning against Auggie comfortably.

Then the girls came running to Annie and Auggie, jumping onto their laps. "Did you see us? Did you hear us? Was our story fabulous?"

Auggie groaned at the unexpected bouncing body on his lap, and Annie just laughed. "Yes, we did see you! I never saw that story told like that before."

The girls grinned from ear-to-ear. "We were fabulous!" Chloe insisted, settling into Annie's lap comfortably as Annie's arm wrapped around her middle comfortably.

Annie laughed, and Danielle stood, shoulder resting against the wall. "Okay, girls, if you want to open a present tonight, somebody needs to say a prayer quick."

Bouncing on Annie's lap, Chloe called, "I will!"

All of them bowing their heads, Chloe folded her hands tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. "Dear Jesus," she called into the stillness of the night, "thank You so much for Christmas! I know You came at Christmastime just so You could die for us, but I really love the presents and the yummy food. So thank You for that, too! And thank you that Aunt Annie and Mr. Auggie are here this year… but please help them not to have anymore kissey-kissey time, because that's icky and I don't like it…"

At this, Annie and Auggie squeezed each other's hand tightly, doing everything they could to keep from laughing. Sometimes, the little munchkin was just _too_ much.

"And thank You that we can learn about You at school, and thank you for my friends and my family and my mommy and daddy, and please help us to have a very good and a very happy Christmas! Thank You, Jesus! Amen!"

"Amen!" everyone else echoed, and the girls bounced excitedly off Annie's and Auggie's laps, jumping impatiently as they waited for their mother to retrieve the presents for that night. Every Christmas Eve, they all were able to open just one present. The girls knew they would receive new pajamas, but they were excited, nonetheless.

"Can we open them right away?" Katia asked, accepting a wrapped gift from her mother.

"Not yet," Danielle called, finding gifts for Michael, Annie, and Auggie. As soon as they were distributed, she continued, "Okay. You can start now. But _one_ at a time! We'll start youngest to oldest this year."

Eagerly, Chloe pulled at the paper of her gift, groaning when she realized her mom had taped all four sides of the box. "Mommy!" she complained, and Michael was quick to her rescue, cutting three of the four pieces of tape with his pocket knife. She squealed with delight as she discovered a pair of flowery pajamas, made from soft flannel. Rubbing the fabric against her cheek softly, she whispered, "Mommy, they're so soft! Thank you!"

With that, she disappeared around the corner and into her parents' room to try them on.

Katia was already digging into her own present, squealing with delight as she discovered a pair of pajamas with a small star-and-moon design. "Thank you, Mommy!" she called, and she disappeared in similar fashion to her little sister.

When the two girls returned, wearing their pajamas, they settled onto the floor, chins propped on their fists, as they waited for Annie to open her present.

With far less enthusiasm, the three adults opened their own presents, expressing their thanks. Annie wrapped her new scarf around her neck, Auggie kept running his fingers affectionately over the cover of the copy of _Gulliver's Travels_ in Braille that he'd received from the girls, and Michael still hadn't set down the mug that the girls had gotten for him, the words "World's Best Dad" written in bold print across the side.

As they all finished opening their presents, the girls jumped to their feet excitedly, "_Elf_!"

Danielle grinned at them. "Huh-uh. Go brush your teeth first."

As the girls disappeared down the hall, Michael cued up the video, and Annie turned to look at Auggie. Kissing his cheek gently, she said, "Sooo, do you like your first Christmas present in two years?"

He gave her an affectionate smile. "Mmm. I always loved _Gulliver's Travels_ when I was a little kid. I haven't read it in years, though." He paused. "What did you get? A scarf?"

She removed it from around her neck. "Here," she said, handing it to him. "Feel it."

It was soft and long, and the tassels tangled in his fingers.

Giggling, she untangled his fingers and wrapped it around her neck again. He easily could have untangled his fingers on his own, but she secretly loved the feel of her hands brushing his as she was tucked at his side. "It's like a pink-ish, purple-ish color. With sequins in it," she explained.

His eyes lit up in a mix between humoring her and amusement. "You like it?"

Fingering the fabric softly, she grinned up at him. "I love it."

He reached out and cupped her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. Grinning, he leaned in for a soft kiss. "Good. I love it when you're happy."

She grinned back at him. "Mmm. I love being with you," she said in reply. "You make me happy."

He leaned in to steal another kiss, grateful for the relative private time he had with her. "Good," he whispered.

When he heard squealing shouts of excitement and thundering skipping feet coming down the hallway, he pulled away regretfully. "They're going to be the death of me," he muttered.

Annie giggled and pressed a gentle kiss against his shoulder. "They'll be in bed soon," she replied. "I hope."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, me, too."

As the girls entered the room, skipping and squealing, Danielle turned to look at the girls. "Settle down, girls."

Settling down and dropping to the floor, they wrapped a throw blanket around themselves and turned their attention to the screen, waiting for Michael to press the PLAY button.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Not terribly long after the movie had started, it was over, and the girls gave their last round of hugs before running upstairs for the night, squealing with barely-containable excitement. As the lights to the upstairs hallway flipped off, Annie grinned in her sister's direction. "We're gonna go. Because I _know_ they'll be beating my door down at 5:30 tomorrow morning."

Danielle grinned and hugged first Annie, then Auggie. "Okay. Go have fun, you two," she teased.

Annie blushed and sent her sister a death stare. "Good night, Dani."

"Night, lovebirds!" she called with an easy grin, and Annie led the two of them out the front door.

As Annie pulled the front door shut, she slipped her hand into Auggie's and reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Soooo," she said, drawing the word out, "how was your Christmas Eve?" she asked.

He slipped his hand out of hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer. Obliging him, she slipped her arms around his waist, and he leaned down to kiss her temple affectionately. "It was very interesting," he said as they walked toward her guesthouse. "First of all, I woke up extremely early because I had to work, but I had to take a cab to work, because my _girlfriend _forgot to pick me up."

"Sorry!" she squeaked again, apologetically. "I woke up _really_ late. Joan was really mad."

He laughed. "It's okay. Then I worked my butt off all day, saving the country…"

"My hero…" she interjected with a grin.

He leaned in to claim a kiss before continuing his story. "Anyway… then my girlfriend _finally_ came and picked me up, apologizing multiple times for ignoring me all day, and then we ate dinner at Wendy's before I spent the evening with two wailing elementary-aged girls, souped up on adrenaline and Christmas cookies. I think one of them almost broke my legs when she sat on my lap, and the other one prayed that I'd never kiss my girlfriend in front of her ever again."

Annie laughed as she slid in front of him, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his. When she pulled away, she lingered there, right next to him, standing on her tiptoes, cradling his face in her hands. "I love you," they both whispered at the same time.

Surprise filled Annie's face, and she noticed it was mirrored in Auggie's face, as well. "You love me?" Annie whispered.

He guided her toward her front door, letting her push it open for them, and they stepped inside. She removed her coat, hanging it on the hook by the door, and he tugged her back into his arms. "Do I love you?" he asked. Reaching up, he caressed her cheek with his cold hand, before tucking her hair behind her ear. "Of course, I love you! Annie, how could I _not_ love you?" he whispered. His eyes were darting around, as if he was willing his eyes to work, willing them to be able to memorize her face. He gently ran his thumb across her lower lip. "You're beautiful and smart and funny, and you believe in me, and you light up my life with your sunny personality and the way you picked _me_." He paused. "I've been wanting to tell you for nearly a _week_ now, but every time I tried to bring it up, something would always interrupt."

She had kicked off her flats when she removed her coat, and now she pressed herself against him, kissing his desperately. "I love you," she whispered again, tears catching in her voice.

Concern filled his eyes, and he leaned forward, kissing away her tears. "Hey, what's the matter?"

She shook her head. "I—I just didn't think... I didn't know if I could ever have _this _again. Not after—" Her voice dropped off, not wanting to think of him at the moment. It wasn't fair to compare Auggie to Ben, anyway.

She shook her head again, pushing onto her tiptoes again to kiss him. "I don't want to think about that tonight. I just want to be with you."

"Are you sure?" he asked, both surprised and thrilled at her declaration.

She touched her forehead to his, leaning in for a brief kiss before nodding her head silently. "Yeah. I'm sure. I love you, maya dorogaya. I want you to know it."

Reaching for his hand, she tugged him toward her bedroom.

**A/N:** What did you think? I really like it, but I'm not sure if I should have been bolder, haha. Never wrote anything like this before, so I was a bit shy my first time around. Hope that's okay. :) Hopefully, it'll get better with time. :)

And ah, I just wanted to explain about the religion stuff. I've mentioned church and stuff in author's notes before… yeah, I'm a Christian, and I'm pretty passionate about that, so it just comes out. I realize lots of people on here probably aren't Christians, so I tried not to make it preachy. Jesus' birth story is a _bittttt_ embellished (lol), and I hoped the prayer would come across as comic relief if the religion was getting a bit heavy for some of you. But I just could _not_ imagine Christmas without Christ at the center, so I hope you'll forgive me for that, if it did bother you.

And pshhhh, if you were allowed to say "stupid" when you were ten, forgive me. I wasn't. And Danielle kinda reminds me of my mom, hahaha.

Two more chapters left! I have decided to finish it all this year. It could have worked to finish it next year, but, really, it just didn't seem to be too pragmatic. And I just like the idea of having it all finished and complete in a couple days. Promise I'll come up with something next year, though. :)

Can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas everybody! or, Merry Christma-Kwanza-Hanukkah, if you prefer… :] And sooooorry for the monstrous A/N, hahaha.


	23. The Anticipated Morn

**A/N:** EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I'm SO sorry. Definitely planned to have this posted by FRIDAY! All this holiday stuff caught up with me, though. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

And mmm. As soon as I finished writing Chapter 22, I knew I'd be so excited to bring you this chapter. :) Still am. Hope you like it! :)

**Disclaimer:** not mine!

Chapter 23

The Anticipated Morn

December 25, 2010

Annie's Guesthouse

Auggie loved this time of the morning.

So early that no one else was awake, before the dawn broke, before the birds ruined the silence. He could _feel_ the silence. It was palpable, and that's what he loved about it.

At least, he figured it was _this_ time of the morning. He couldn't say for sure, because Annie was currently curled around the left side of his body, and he had no desire to wake her to find out.

_Annie._ He reached over and caressed her cheek softly, tucking her wayward sunny hair behind her ear. Her head was tucked against his shoulder, and he reached up and kissed her brow gently, not wanting to wake her yet. "I love you," he whispered.

He could say those three words any time he wished now, and he couldn't believe how freeing it was.

She stirred against his side, humming sleepily as her arm slid around his middle. Smiling softly, he reached over, finding her jaw, and he tilted her face closer to his and kissed her softly.

When he felt her lips grinning against his own, he kissed her again. "Morning," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas," she returned, her eyes twinkling. "What time is it?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. I didn't want to wake you."

She pushed herself up on her elbow, glancing over him at her alarm clock. "Five-forty," she sighed, falling back against the pillows and his arm. "Mmm. The girls were generous this year."

"Generous?" he asked.

"They usually raid the place at 5:30." Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she sat up, taking the covers with her. "You up for playing guard again?"

He squinted at her in disapproval. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked.

"Because the girls will _kill_ me if I don't wrap their presents before they get here, and I was counting on last night to wrap them before I went to bed." By this time, he was sitting up, too, and she leaned in, placing her hand on his chest, kissing him slowly. When she pulled away, she said, "I can't afford another distraction. The girls will kill me."

He chuckled softly and slipped out of bed, feeling the floor for where he thought his clothes should be.

They weren't.

"Uh, Annie?"

She finished pulling her blouse over her head. "Yeah?"

"Have you seen…"

She grinned, sauntering over to him. "You're clothes?" she finished.

Sending her a look, he said, "Yes. That would be it."

She giggled. "C'mon," she said, slipping her hand into his as she tugged him from the room. "I think they're out here. But if not, I know your bag is."

After finding his clothes—and his bag—Annie gave him directions to the bathroom while she started a pot of coffee. With the girls' high-pitched squeals and excitement, she was sure they'd need it.

Besides, it was before six o'clock in the morning. _Nobody_ should be up at this hour.

By the time Auggie returned from the bathroom, dressed in a sweater, jeans, and a pair of Christmas socks—_where had he gotten those?_—the coffee had finished brewing. Pushing up onto her tiptoes, she kissed him briefly and handed him the mug of coffee. "I figured you'd need this just as much as I will," she said with a grin, reaching for his hand to tug him with her back into her room. Depositing him in a nearby chair, she said with a teasing smile, "Okay, maybe you don't have to be a watch dog. But if the girls try to kill me for not wrapping their presents, then I'm definitely blaming you."

He grinned as he settled back into the chair, sipping his coffee. As she wrapped the four boxes, they talked about what had been happening in their lives in the past few days. Annie was finding that the closer she got to Auggie, the more about him she wanted to know. She had always loved talking with Auggie—he was witty and smart, and he was one of the most entertaining people she knew. But as they had begun to date, she had discovered that she loved just being with Auggie, sharing his life. Now that she was in love with him, she soaked up everything he said like a sponge.

As she finished wrapping the last gift, she stacked them off to the side. "I'm gonna go get changed," she said slipping by him to dig a purple blouse, a lighter purple cardigan sweater, and a pair of jeans from her dresser. Before disappearing into the bathroom, she called, "Auggie?"

He glanced up from his coffee cup. "Yeah?"

She grinned like a fool. "I love you."

She was relieved to see her grin mirrored on his own face. "Back atcha, babe," he called with a smile before he took another sip of his coffee, and she ducked into the bathroom and quickly changed before running a brush through her hair quickly and brushing her teeth.

The _au natural_ look would have to work today. She was sure that the girls wouldn't wait for her to shower, straighten her hair, and apply make-up.

She was astonished the girls hadn't stormed the castle alread—

Someone was pounding at the door with alarming force, and two ecstatic voices followed not too far behind. "Aunt Annie! Aunt Annie! Wake _up!_"

_Definitely_ no time for a shower this morning.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Annie deposited the stack of four presents next to the tree and she surveyed the room. "Where are your mom and dad?" she asked, looking at her nieces. By now, the girls usually had them sitting on the couch, bleary-eyed and yawning, begging for coffee.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "They told us to get you first this year. Katia went to go get them."

Annie nodded, sinking onto the couch next to Auggie. He lifted his arm around her shoulders, and she smiled against his shoulder before letting her head fall to his chest, relaxing against his side.

It was entirely too early to be awake. Even for Christmas.

Being able to have Auggie support her made it a hundred times better, though.

When Dani and Michael appeared in the doorway, yawning and rubbing their eyes, Annie couldn't help the slow smile that crossed her face. "Morning," she called.

Danielle sent her a death stare as she reached for her camera before trudging toward the pile of presents.

For the following two hours, the six of them took turns opening presents, only opening one present at a time, to comply with Dani's insistence that she get a picture of _every_ person with each present. The majority of the time was filled with either the girls' squeals of joy or their anxious sighs as the adults took entirely _too long_ to open each of their gifts.

The room stilled, however, when Danielle handed Annie her last gift. Sliding her finger underneath the ribbon wrapped around the paper, she stilled, taking in the looks on the faces surrounding her. Danielle had that gleam in her eye that never meant something good. Chloe and Katia were actually silent, looking at her expectantly. When she glanced at Auggie, the grin on his face spread from ear to ear. _What had he gotten her?_

Apprehensively, she pulled away the paper and lifted the lid of the box. Tears pooled in her eyes. It looked _just_ like… but _no_, it couldn't be.

Her father had given her a glass figurine of Annie during her figure skating days, a specially ordered gift that had been priceless to her. A couple weeks after Annie had moved into the guesthouse, Chloe had come over, and had accidentally knocked it off it's perch on her bookcase. It had shattered into a million pieces, and Annie had been horrified.

Chloe had cried and apologized profusely, and Annie had vowed it was okay. Yet, she still missed one of her greatest reminders of her father who was no longer with them. It couldn't be _that_ figurine, could it?

Lifting the delicate figurine sacredly, she looked at the bottom. The same chip in the glass that had been there since before Chloe's mishap.

She turned to Auggie. "Honey… where did you—how did—where did you get this?"

He offered her a hopeful smile and reached his hand up to her face, caressing her cheek gently. "I needed something that would beat the one-week anniversary gift. And I was talking to Dani… When she told me about the figurine, I knew I had to fix it up for you, so the girls stole the box with all the pieces in it while we were at work."

She smiled through her tears. "You're already getting them to commit crimes for you?"

He smiled softly before he brought his lips to hers. "Only when it comes to your happiness," he vowed.

She grinned before she kissed him back. "Thank you, Auggie."

He tucked her back at his side as they waited for Michael to open his last gift. He lifted the lid of the box. "Seeing that you already gave me a book," he muttered, glancing at Annie and Auggie, "I'm guessing this is my tie."

As he lifted it from the box, he rolled his eyes. "Annie, _really_? I've never seen ties as bad as these!" He glanced at the nametag again. "And you already have Auggie getting in on it?"

Annie giggled, snuggling into Auggie's side more comfortably. She glanced at Auggie lovingly. "It was his idea to get both ties."

Tucking the two ties back in the box, Michael groaned. "I can tell he's just going to fit right in."

Annie laughed as she looked up at Auggie, pressing a kiss to his jaw affectionately. "Yes, he is."

Danielle reached under the tree and handed Auggie the last present. "Here you go, Auggie," she called, placing the gift in his hands. "It's from Annie."

Auggie tore at the paper to the fairly small box easily, and lifted the lid. Feeling inside, he reached in and pulled out a stack of CD cases. He glanced at her in confusion.

She reached for the pile of CDs. "I—I wasn't sure how to label everything," she said softly. "But the first CD is 'The Adventures of Queen Annie.'" She glanced at him, breath held, as she waited for understanding to dawn.

He grinned back at her. "You didn't."

She laughed, hugging his arm. "Yes, I did. I had Minion Stu help me."

He chuckled, kissing her hair gently. "Am I going to love it?"

She grinned. "You'll adore it. I figured we needed something to counter your own crazy stories." She handed the first CD to him. "I was going to try and figure out a way to use your Braille printer to somehow label them, but I figured you would be able to label them better than I could." She paused, handing him the next two CDs. "And this is _A Tale of Two Cities_," she said. "Remember that day in Borders?"

He smiled down at her tenderly. "How could I forget? It was the day I knew I was—falling for you," he finished softly, conscious of the attention of the rest of the room.

She watched him curiously, practically in awe. "It was?"

He reached out and stroked her cheek affectionately before intertwining their fingers. "Yeah, babe. It was."

She smiled softly before meeting his lips in a soft kiss. "I guess it's a good thing I decided on this one, then. You'll never be able to forget."

He grinned, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. "I could never forget that day, anyway, babe," he vowed.

She grinned. "Oh, there's more."

"There's _more_?" he asked incredulously. "You recorded all this? With your own voice?"

She laughed. "Yeah. I dunno how I ever slept."

"What's the rest?"

"_The Importance of Being Earnest_," she said. "I know everyone talks about _A Picture of Dorian Gray_ so much more, but I think it's way too depressing, and I couldn't help it. I love _The Importance of Being Earnest_ more, anyway."

His hand slid up to her jaw, gently guiding her lips to his. "Thank you, babe," he said softly, as they pulled apart. "I love it."

She smiled softly back at him, mesmerized by the contentedly joyful look on his face. "You're welcome. Sorry it wasn't as extravagant as fixing a glass figurine."

He touched his forehead to hers. "It was perfect, Annie. I promise. I can't wait to listen to _The Adventures of Queen Annie_."

She giggled, leaning in for another kiss moments before Chloe crawled over to them from her perch on the floor nearby. Dropping her hands to one of their knees each, she sighed heavily. "Aunt Annie?" she drawled.

Annie broke away from Chloe, noticing, for the first time, the lack of protestations over "kissey-kissey time." "Yeah, babe?" she whispered with a soft smile.

The girl sighed overdramatically once more. "Mommy says it's not nice to interrupt people like we were doin', but kissey-kissey time is so gross! Can you please stop now?"

Annie bit back a laugh as she reached out to ruffle her niece's hair affectionately. "Okay, babe. We can try and tame it down, but, ya know, Auggie and I are in love. It's kinda hard."

Chloe sighed before standing to her feet to join her family in the dining room for breakfast. "Ohhh-kay," she drawled. "All I ask is that you try."

Annie laughed before reaching for her niece's face, and she kissed her forehead affectionately. "Okay, pipsqueak."

As she skipped into the dining room, she called her warning over her shoulder, "That's not my name, Aunt Annie!"

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

The others had already dispersing, focused on their own gifts, or finding breakfast, when Auggie realized his phone was vibrating at his hip. Standing to his feet, he walked around the corner, saying, "Hello?"

"Gus-Gus!" a childish voice squealed out.

Auggie's heart stopped. At least, he could have sworn that it did. "G-grayson?" he asked slowly. There was only one voice it could be, but he hadn't heard Grayson's voice for two whole years. Grayson had been only fourteen months old then with a limited vocabulary, on that Christmas that Auggie had stormed out of the lives of his family—he had thought for forever. With the sound of his baby brother's voice, though, he realized he could never, ever say good-bye to some of his family.

He tried to picture what Grayson would look like. When he was a baby, he'd had the same signature wavy, dark hair and chocolate eyes all the Anderson boys had. Everyone said that Auggie and Grayson could have been twins, only twenty-four years apart. Did that mean Gray had Auggie's mischievous nature? His twinkling, happy eyes?

"Gus-Gus!" the little boy affirmed, his happy voice filled with laughter. Auggie couldn't believe how healing it was, hearing that laughter-and-hope-filled voice. "Happy Christmas, Gus-Gus!"

Auggie managed a smile through his tears. _Gray still called him Gus-Gus?_ Auggie remembered the last time he had been home—two Christmases ago—and Grayson had had problems pronouncing Auggie's name—and nickname. So it had transformed into Gus-Gus. Much as Auggie preferred _Auggie_ to _Gus_, he couldn't deny that he loved to hear the name coming from his baby brother's lips. "Merry Christmas, Gray." He paused, a million thoughts racing through his head. "Gray, you know I love you, right? That I miss you?" he asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. _Since when did he love children so much?_

Grayson grinned on the other end of the phone. "I love you, too, Gus-Gus!"

Auggie choked back on a laugh. How had he lived the past two years without ever talking to Grayson? The thought of it made him anxious to hold his little brother in his arms, to know that he was safe. Would Gray grow up, under the wrath of their father, to barely ever see Auggie? The thought made him sick. "What'd you get for Christmas, Gray?" he asked, trying to fill the silence with anything besides the fear of what his father could do to Grayson.

"I got a tractor!" he proclaimed proudly. "It's red and it's really awesome! Ari gave it to me!"

The thought of Auggie's little sister jolted him. _Arianne_. She had barely turned fifteen. When he had seen her last, she had been twelve, full of wisdom, giggles, and a love for reading. He remembered the hours they had spent sharing secrets, classic literature, and midnight snacks. If their father was giving her grief… "Aw, that's great, buddy! What else did you get?"

The little boy sighed heavily. "Mommy and Daddy gave me _clothes_…" He said the last word as if it was torture, and Auggie couldn't help laughing.

"What'd you get for Christmas, Gus-Gus?" Gray asked.

Auggie smiled. "I got cookies. And some books. And a big teddy bear."

"A _teddy_ bear?" Grayson asked incredulously, and Auggie laughed again.

"Yeah, a teddy bear. From my girlfriend's niece."

There was a long pause. Then: "Gus-Gus, why aren't you home for Christmas?"

Auggie's heart broke at the question. Why _wasn't_ he home for Christmas? Protecting Gray and Ari and his mother? His four older brothers could handle Marcus Anderson well, but… Cara Anderson was way too good for her husband's fits of anger and selfishness. And Ari and Grayson shouldn't have to deal with their father on their own. He sighed, saying the only reason he could think of. "I'm staying with my girlfriend's family this year, buddy."

"Oh," he said slowly. "I love you, Gus-Gus!"

A voice in the background shouted, "Grayson Isaac Anderson!", and Gray's end of the line quieted. "Uh-oh," Gray said softly. Auggie tried to imagine the little boy, hugging the telephone to his ear, the my-secret's-been-discovered look on his face.

"What is it, buddy?" A thousand worse-case scenarios filled Auggie's brain. The voice had been too muffled, even for Auggie's astute ear, to tell who it was. In the two years he had been gone, had Auggie's father become abusive? The thought made him blanche with worry for his whole family, especially Ari, Gray, and his mother.

"Mommy found the Happy Birthday Jesus cake," he said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

Auggie couldn't keep back the breath of relief, or the laughter that followed. "What's the matter with the Happy Birthday Jesus cake, Grayson?"

A long pause, followed by, "I ate half of it."

Auggie burst out laughing again. How in the world had he lived without Grayson for so long? "Okay, buddy. Do you have to go now?"

A little "uh-huh" followed, and then he said quickly, "Gus-Gus, Ari wants to say hi!"

"Okay, buddy," he said, waiting for the phone to transfer to his little sister.

"Auggie?" the soft voice asked. How was it possible that that voice healed half of the roughly broken places of his heart?

"Ari?"

She giggled, and every single late-night memory, stolen with Ari, on his visits home returned to him. Auggie had always loved the ladies, but Ari had always been his best girl. "You better not forget me," she teased, but he could hear the tremor in her voice.

Too long away, indeed.

He smiled. "I could never forget you, Ari Bear," he vowed, pausing. "Sooo. I heard Grayson got a very awesome tractor."

She giggled, and their easy relationship was back, as it always was. "You should see him, Auggie. He loves tractors wayyyy too much," she said drolly. Her voice dropped to a soft whisper. "Momma says he's just like you were, when you were his age."

Auggie settled in to the conversation with Ari. Being in the same room with Cara, Ari, and Gray would have been much better, but this would have to do.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

When Auggie felt his way into the dining room, glad they had cleared a pathway for him, Annie came to meet him, slipping into his arms and giving him a brief kiss. "Who was that?" she asked softly.

His chin dropped onto her soft hair. "Mmm. My brother and sister."

She pulled away, just to be able to look into his eyes. "Which brother?" she asked quietly.

"Grayson," he said, nearly choking on the name. The conversation with the three-year-old filled his mind. Would he ever see him again? Despite the dread behind the thought of seeing Marcus Anderson again, Auggie couldn't imagine never seeing Grayson and Ari anymore. "He's only three."

She studied him curiously. "You have a baby brother?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, pausing. "He was born just before… Tikrit."

"Oh," Annie said, absorbing the information. She'd overheard a bit of the conversation with first Grayson, then Ari, and finally Cara Anderson. Auggie obviously still loved them, and it made her ache at the thought that he couldn't be with them today.

She brought her hand up to caress his cheek gently before giving him a gentle kiss. "I'm glad you got to talk to them, honey," she said softly.

He gave her a brave smile. "Yeah. Me, too." He wanted to tell her about his father, about how, after over a decade of daily disappointments, the man had become bitter and exacting. Auggie wanted to tell her that he was afraid for his mother, Ari, and Grayson. He wanted to tell her about his late-night secret meetings with Ari, and his first true conversation with Grayson, but here, on Christmas day, with the girls and Dani and Michael, this was not the time.

He let Annie guide him to the island in the kitchen, as she whispered, "Hungry yet?"

As Annie handed him a paper plate, describing the breakfast spread of pastries, fruit, and other breakfast-ey foods, Danielle sidled up to them. "Hey, lovebirds!"

Annie rolled her eyes. She knew she wouldn't like what came next. She never did, not when Dani introduced herself with those two words.

"Sooo, Auggie, how'd you sleep last night?"

He grinned in the general direction of her voice. "Very good, thank you."

"On that couch?" she asked with feigned incredulity. "I've napped on that couch. It's practically impossible to get comfortable."

Auggie accepted a cup of orange juice from Annie. "I actually didn't sleep on the couch."

Her eyes gleamed in her victory. "I knew it!"

Both Annie and Auggie rolled their eyes at her. "What did you know, Danielle?" Annie asked drolly.

"You're sleeping together!" she declared proudly, her voice sing-songey.

"Danielle…" Annie pleaded, sighing.

Danielle rolled her eyes this time. "Relax, lovebirds! You two are perfect for each other. And as long as Auggie doesn't have a Ben complex, you've got no problems here. That just means I don't have to go out of my way to come up with a date for Thursday night dinners that I know she'll reject, even if they are fabulous…"

Annie groaned. "Dani, _none_ of those guys were fabulous, and you know it."

Danielle grinned at them both. "You know, now both of you will have to come."

Auggie groaned, and Annie slid in next to him, snaking her arm around his waist. Looking up at him, love shining in her eyes, she said with a smile, "It'll be our burden to bear."

Grinning down at her, he knew it wouldn't be a burden. Not with Annie at his side, anyway.

**A/N:** One more chapter! Hope to have it up either tomorrow or Tuesday, at the very latest.

Review, please! Oh, and what do you think of Grayson? Officially my favorite little kid I've created in a really long time, haha.


	24. Happily Ever After

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

Chapter 24

Happily Ever After

One year later…

December 23, 2011

Anderson Home

Glencoe, Illinois

Annie stared up at the house in front of her. Turning to her boyfriend in shocked amazement, she asked, "This is your _home_?"

Auggie grinned back at her, and, from the front seat, Avery Anderson laughed. "What? Didn't Aug tell you Dad was as loaded as he is a pain in the butt?"

The woman sitting next to Avery in the passenger seat rolled her eyes and shoved her husband playfully. "Avery, be nice to her."

Annie studied the couple in front of them. Avery looked nearly identical to Auggie—four years older, a little less built, a little wiser in the eyes—but they shared the same gorgeous dark hair, teasing, dancing chocolate eyes, strong jaw. On the short ride from O'Hare to the Anderson home in Glencoe, he had explained that he worked as a journalist at the _Chicago Tribune_. He was smart, funny, and, at times, as sarcastic as Auggie. By the way the woman next to him easily controlled him with her laugh, frown, or a gentle touch to his arm, Annie knew he was hopelessly in love with his wife.

Hannah Anderson was blond, petite, beautiful. Shoulder-length blond hair, twinkling, happy sage-green eyes, pug nose. Annie had watched as Hannah held her own against Avery's teasing, and yet that adoring look had never left her eyes.

She had decided that she really loved Avery and Hannah. They had already set Auggie at ease in a situation she was very afraid could turn volatile at any moment.

From what little she had gathered, Marcus Anderson wasn't abusive or alcoholic, but he certainly tried to make his family's lives miserable. Marrying early at the age of eighteen and starting a family not much later, he had quickly become tied to his family, and while all his friends maintained their independence into their thirties, he had been stuck on diaper duty and shopping rather than living the bachelorhood his friends always bragged about. As long work hours and life got in the way, he slowly began to regret his decisions regarding starting a family early.

Especially when it came to the birth of the unplanned, fifth son and the way he had been blinded years later.

Due to the number of cars parked in the driveway, Avery pulled the black Honda Civic off to the side of the driveway before meeting his wife, brother, and Annie at the back of the car. He easily removed the two suitcases, carrying Annie's while Auggie rolled his own suitcase behind him.

Hannah slid her arm through Annie's easily, letting Avery and Auggie lead the way to the side door that led into the large, airy kitchen. "Wait until you meet Lottie, Bailey, and Leila," Hannah gushed with a soft smile. "You'll love them."

Annie smiled at the thought of Avery's and Hannah's three small children. "I'm sure I will—I just haven't been around children that young for a while. Chloe and Katia are almost ten years older than your children, I think."

Hannah smiled. "Don't worry. They'll love you." She gestured toward the house. "They all will. Wait till you meet Cara. She's like… the best mom in the world."

As they stepped into the kitchen, Annie watched with a smile as a beautiful woman, about fifty, graying hair, twinkling blue eyes, stared back at her two boys. Her eyes filled with silent tears, and she covered her face in shame as soft sobs wracked her body.

Auggie dropped his bag at his feet and shuffled toward the noise, instinctively trailing his left hand against the island in the center of the room. "Mom?" he whispered, his own voice nearly failing him.

His hands reached out to her, and she slid her arms around his waist, burying her tear-stained face in his chest. "August. How—how could you leave us?"

By now, silent tears were falling down his cheeks, as well. "I—I'm sorry, Mom," he whispered. "I—I just don't know how… I couldn't… not after Iraq—I couldn't deal with him. Not on top of everything else. He hates me."

Cara held him tight. "He—he doesn't hate you," she defended.

"No, Mom. He _never_ wanted me. We all know it. And I've always been a disappointment…"

She rubbed his back soothingly. "Oh-okay," she said slowly. "You're here. That's all that matters now. We can talk about the rest later." 

He nodded slowly, brushing his tears away, annoyed they had come. "I missed you, Mom," he whispered.

"I missed you, too, baby," she whispered, pushing him back to look him in the face. She laughed nervously, wiping her tears away. "Look at me," she babbled. "Crying like a fool when my baby comes home…"

"I thought Ari took that name when she was born…"

She stroked his cheek affectionately. "Never. You'll always be my baby, August David."

He groaned. "Mom, why do you have to bring up my middle name?" He hated it, because it was his father's middle name, too. He hated that association, but he had never changed it.

She patted his cheek with a teary smile. "Because you're my baby. And I picked your name because I love it."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, Mom… I—I want you to meet my girlfriend. He stepped to the side, and Hannah shoved Annie forward a little. "Mom, this is Annie."

Cara smiled softly at the love she heard in her son's voice. She reached out to hug Annie. "Hello, Annie. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mrs. Anderson—it's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Thank you for opening your home to me."

She smiled, patting Annie's hand affectionately. "Please, dear, call me Cara. Everyone does." She paused. "Ari tells me I owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing my baby back home to me. Thank you for that."

Annie smiled softly. "I—I couldn't let him suffer without seeing the family he loves for another year. I overheard him talking to Grayson and Arianne last Christmas, and I—I knew he had to come." She ducked her head, embarrassed, as she slid into Auggie's arms.

Cara smiled at the couple affectionately. "Well, whatever the reasoning, I'm very glad you're both here."

At that moment, a miniature Auggie flashed down the hall and into the room. "Gus-Gus!" he screeched, launching himself at the brother he hadn't seen in three years. "Gus-Gus, you really came!"

Auggie lifted the little squirming bundle of joy into his arms. "Grayson?" he asked.

Ever since that phone call last Christmas, he had called Grayson every week, just to talk, and make sure their father wasn't inflicting any damage. It appeared the little boy was no worse for wear.

"Gus-Gus!" the little boy affirmed, nearly choking Auggie with his grip around his neck. "Gus-Gus, I love you!"

Tears pooled in Auggie's eyes. Hugging the little bundle tightly to his chest, he whispered, "I love you, too, Grayson."

Before anything else could be said, a pretty, slender teenage girl appeared in the family dining room, her head buried in a book. She glanced up when she heard the ending of Auggie's proclamation.

Her book dropped to the ground, and a sob wracked her body. She just stood there, head buried in her hands, as she cried, and Auggie quickly handed Grayson to Annie. "I gotta go talk to Ari real quick, buddy," he said apologetically before he stumbled toward his sister, feeling around the chairs and walls until he reached her. When his hand touched her shaking shoulder, he pulled her into his arms. "Hi, Ari."

She sobbed into his chest. "You—you _left_ me. You were my best friend and my hero, and you _left_ me. How could you, Auggie?" she accused.

He was nearly crushing her in his embrace, but neither of them really cared. "I know, Ari. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay? I love you. And you'll always be my best girl. You know that, right?" He paused again. "And I'm sorry. I—I don't know what I was thinking."

She pushed away from his chest slightly to look up into his eyes, fixed at a point above her shoulder. In wonder, her hands came up to frame his face. "I'm your best girl?" she asked, smiling softly. "What about Annie?"

He smiled apologetically. "Okay," he said, giving her an affectionate look before reaching back and tugging her ponytail. "I'll give you that. You can be my best girls, twins. Is that okay?"

She scowled at him. "How do you do that?"

He grinned confidently back at her. "Do what?"

"Still know where my ponytail is!"

He laughed. "Comes with practice, I guess." He tucked her against his side, his arm around her shoulder protectively, and she slid her arms around him affectionately. "C'mon. Come meet Annie," he pled. "You're gonna love her."

She gave him a rueful smile. "I'll meet her, but I dunno if I'll love her," she teased. "Is she gonna take you away from me forever?"

He smiled and dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. "Nothing could ever take you away from me forever, Ari Bear," he vowed.

Ari led them back to the group of family engulfing Annie, and he called, "Annie?"

She smiled, letting Grayson slip to the ground. "I'm right here, Auggie."

He breathed in deep, hoping Annie and Ari would love each other as much as he had been imagining. They were his two favorite people in the whole world, and the idea that they _wouldn't_ get along made him nervous. "Annie, this is my little sister, Arianne. Ari, this is my girlfriend, Annie."

The young girl the few steps and hugged Annie desperately. As a few more sobs emerged, she hugged Annie tighter. "Th-thank you," she whispered fiercely. "Thank you for bringing Auggie home."

Annie smiled, holding Ari tight. "Of course, Arianne," she said softly.

Ari shook her head softly. "N-no… just call me Ari. Please."

Annie smiled as she turned to look at Auggie. "Okay," she whispered softly. "Ari it is."

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 23, 2011

Anderson home

Glencoe, Illinois

Auggie nearly gagged on the sandwich and spitting it out, hoping the trash can was still where it was three hours ago when he had finished that piece of pie with Annie.

This was the problem with eating leftovers in a strange house, even if it used to be his. He had been sure it was the ham and cheese sandwich he had never finished at lunch, but this—this had mayo that didn't really taste like mayo, and raisins, and lettuce, and American cheese that didn't really taste like American cheese? _What sort of diet was his mother on?_

He heard a muffled giggle from across the kitchen. Instantly, he knew it was Ari. Wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, he scowled in her direction. "What are you giggling at?" he complained.

She giggled again, slipping into a hug. "Did you eat Nana's sandwich?"

He frowned at her. "Nana? Nana was here?"

"Yeah. She couldn't make it for Christmas, but she was here for Thanksgiving. She's on some weird diet, and she made that sandwich before we even had the Thanksgiving meal."

He felt like he was about to throw up. _That sandwich was a month old?_

She giggled again as she saw the outline of his horror. She tugged him to one of the barstools at the island. "C'mon," she teased. "I'll make you a sandwich, Aug."

He settled onto the wooden barstool and heard a light switch flick on. "PB and J okay with you?" she asked, reaching for the loaf of bread from the cabinet.

He nodded his assent, and she began to make the sandwiches next to him. When she finished the first one, she handed it to him. When she finished hers, she took a bite and settled into the seat next to him. She scooted her seat next to him, slipping her arm through his as she leaned her head against his arm. "Wanna hear a secret?" she asked conspiratorially, and he grinned back at her.

"'Course, squirt. Who's it about this time?"

"Daddy." She grinned. "You'll never guess what he did last weekend."

Usually, he'd avoid news of his father at all costs, but he knew that with Ari, this story about his father would be good. "Well," she began, lowering her voice like they always did when they shared their midnight secrets. Her voice held the edge of the mystery behind her story, and he couldn't believe how he'd let himself live without this for three years. "It was Sunday, and Grayson had proclaimed it 'Tractor-Racing Day…'" She grinned over at her brother. "Of course, his race course was in the middle of the hallway… and Dad was walking around barefoot… head buried in a book, not thinking of what he was doing, as usual…"

Auggie loved the mental picture he had. "Does he still squeal like a little girl?"

Ari giggled as she hugged his arm tighter. "You have no idea, Auggie."

She turned to look at him. "Okay. Your turn, mister."

He smiled softly as he felt the small box in his pants pocket. "I love Annie," he whispered.

She smiled softly. "I know, Auggie. We _all_ know you love her."

He removed his hand from his pocket, handing her the velvet black box. "No, Ari… I _really_ love her."

She gasped when she saw the box. Lifting the lid, she removed the ring and studied it in the dim light. A simple silver band with one shimmering diamond in the middle. The simplicity of it somehow suited the beauty and simplicity of their relationship. Handing it back to him, she whispered, "Auggie, it's beautiful."

He hesitated. "Do you think so?"

"I know so, Auggie. She'll love it."

His eyes carried his worry. "D-do you think she'll say yes?"

Ari smiled up at him and reached up to kiss his cheek. "She'd be a fool not to."

He groaned inwardly. _Why was it that girls always spoke in riddles?_

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 24, 2011

Anderson home

Glencoe, Illinois

Annie slipped into the room she and Auggie were sharing, watching him sleep in the early-morning light. Even after a year of dating, she still couldn't believe that she was here, with him, and more in love than she'd been in her entire life.

She slipped into bed next to him, and she watched him stir next to her. He whispered, "Morning, babe," and she grinned.

"Merry Christmas Eve, maya dorogaya." She leaned in to brush a kiss against his lips. "I love you."

He grinned back at her sleepily. "I love you, too, babe."

She slid closer to him, touching her knees to his as she stared into his eyes. "Are you glad you came home?" she asked, reaching out to intertwine their fingers as she studied him. She waited for him to answer, softly stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

He reached out and caressed her cheek with his free hand, grinning at her. "Yes, Annie, I _love_ being around my narcissistic father again."

She rolled her eyes. "Not—not that."

He smiled softly as he leaned in for a slow kiss. "Thank you for making me come. I've missed Ari and Grayson and Avery and my mom so much. I didn't even know that I missed them, until—until…"

"Until you talked to them," she finished for him.

He grinned back at her, tucking her hair behind her ear and caressing the soft skin of her cheek. "Your skin's so soft," he whispered, and she smiled involuntarily.

"You're getting off-topic," she whispered back, offering him a teasing smile.

He groaned. "Annie—"

She grinned back at him. "I want you to tell me about your family. You didn't forget that I'm a highly trained spy, did you?"

He snorted, still stroking her cheek softly. A slow smile slid up his lips. "_I'm_ the highly trained spy. You're just getting there."

She rolled her eyes. "And you never let me forget."

"Nope."

"I still have magical powers over you."

"That you do."

A teasing look came over his face, and the hand cradling her face traced the contours of her face gently. She squirmed under his touch. "Auggie!"

He gave her an innocent smile. "What?"

She reached out to grab his hands, to hold them down. "Stop tickling me!"

He smirked towards her, his hands moving to her sides, and she squirmed under his touch. "Auggie!"

He laughed at her, pulling her close. "C'mon, Annie. I just want a little kiss," he sulked.

She rolled her eyes and kissed him briefly. "That's not all you want."

He grinned at her devilishly, and, as he moved to tickle her again, she captured his hands in her own. She grinned proudly, poking his chest gently with their clasped hands. "Talk, mister."

He sighed overdramatically. "Caleb's still way too overprotective, Rachel's too easy to defend her husband's overprotectiveness, Avery's still the only big brother I was ever really close to. Hannah's nice to have around, and keeps Avery on his toes. Jonas and Claire are still full of themselves, Oscar's still a whiney, spoiled kid, and Zara's nice. I don't really know her. Ari and Grayson are adorable, my mom is a saint, and it's a very good thing for all of us that my dad's still mostly a workaholic. And my nieces and nephews are adorable." He paused, sighing heavily. "Can we stop talking now, and do…" He paused to find the correct word. "_Other_ things?"

She giggled. "I don't think so." She kissed him slowly, her hand slipping under his tee shirt. She pulled away and whispered in his ear, "I think you need to be tortured a bit longer."

With a deep groan, he reached for her, pulling her closer. "Forget torture," he said. "C'mere."

She giggled once more as he pulled her into a searing kiss and pulled the covers up over them both.

Oh, yes. He definitely loved everything about this woman.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

December 25, 2011

Anderson home

Glencoe, Illinois

Auggie groaned as Grayson tugged harder on his hand. "Come _on_, Gus-Gus!" he demanded. "It's Christmas _morning_! We gotta go open the _presents_!"

He heard Annie giggling next to him. "Aug, you have _got_ to get used to this. Between my family and yours, there is no way we can escape early morning Christmas celebrations."

He managed a smile for her as he glanced in the direction of her voice, but his gaze returned to his feet. He couldn't help—nor did he want to—the images filling his brain.

"_Mommy! Daddy! Come _on_! It's Christmas Day!" An adorable blond-haired, hazel-eyed little girl and a curly, dark-haired little boy, eager chocolate eyes, were tugging at the covers on his side of the bed, jumping up and down by his side._

_Annie was mumbling next to him. "Isabelle Maya…" Isabelle? Her name was Isabelle? He mulled on the thought. He decided he loved it already._

_Their daughter was already snuggling in between them. The little arms were around his neck. "C'_mon_, Daddy! Wake up Mommy! It's time for _presents!"

_Then the little boy was climbing on the bed. "Here, Daddy! You can't forget your ring!"_

My ring._ He slipped it onto his ring finger. "Thanks, Joshua… We'll be there in just a minute, okay, buddy?"_

_As Isabelle and Joshua scampered toward the living room, Auggie turned toward her, caressing her cheek softly as he leaned in for a sweet kiss. "Mornin', beautiful," he whispered._

"_Mornin', maya dorogaya."_

"_You mean dordrogava."_

_She groaned. "And I thought I taught you Russian."_

_He grinned back at her. "You married a very stubborn man. C'mon. Before Bella and Josh tear the house apart without us."_

_She groaned, sitting up. "You're to blame for how they're turning out."_

_He grinned at her. "Never."_

He tried to bury the smile that threatened to explode off his face. Now that he had visions of the future in mind, if Annie said no, he didn't know what he would do.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Everyone was gathered in the large family room, many of the presents unwrapped in front of them, paper, boxes, and ribbons strewn across the room, the children chattering excitedly, the couples cuddled against each other, all save for Cara and Marcus. Marcus stood impatiently at the doorway, waiting for his moment to escape, while Cara was surrounded by her five grandchildren, smiling at each of their enthusiastic responses.

Hannah accepted a small box from her husband, as she sat between his legs, leaning back against him, before leaning forward to hand the gift to its recipient. "Annie," she said softly.

Annie reached for the present. "Who's it from?"

"Auggie, I think," she responded. "Check."

Annie checked. It was from Auggie.

She had been seated similar to Hannah, and twisted to look at Auggie. "Another present?" she asked, a confused look in her eyes. "You already got me too much already!"

He smiled, reaching out for her cheek before tugging her closer, stealing a kiss. "You know," he said, a teasing smile on his lips, "it's impossible to not spoil you, babe."

She blushed with pleasure, just staring into his eyes. "I love you."

Marcus groaned at the door, as did half of Auggie's brothers. Zara, the shy, pretty young Iranian woman engaged to Oscar, leaned closer to the couple. "Open it, Annie."

Annie smiled softly, pulling the paper away hesitantly. When she discovered a small white box, she lifted the lid to discover a small velvet black box.

Her gasp froze in her throat. Tears clouded her vision, and she turned to look at Auggie. "Aug-Aug… honey, Auggie, is this—"

His hand came up to frame her cheek, caressing it gently. Tears flowed down her cheeks at all the love shining in his eyes. "Auggie…"

He offered her a hopeful, adoring look. "Open it, Annie."

Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the box, finally pulling it open. Her breath caught in her throat again at the sight of the simple silver ring. Her lower lip trembled as she turned to look at her boyfriend. "Auggie—say… say something."

He reached for her hands, stroking the backs of her hands as he began to speak. "Annie—I love you so much. I knew I would love you that day in J.C. Penney's, when you kept insisting on making me wear those ridiculous ties for Michael, and now—now, I can't even imagine a future without you in it, here with me. Annie, I love you. Annie, you keep me sane and you reunited me with my family… and you love me even when there's no reason to, and you're everything good and whole and beautiful… Annie, will you… will you marry me?"

She spun around quickly, launching herself into his arms, flinging him back against the couch. Surprise filled his eyes and face, but he quickly adjusted, holding her close. "Yes!" she squealed in his ear. "Yes! Yes! Yes, a million times yes, Auggie! I love you!" She pulled back a little, her hands framing his face a millisecond before her lips met his in her passionate kiss.

They pulled away to the sound of thunderous applause filling the room, as the children eagerly jumped over to them, surrounding them with their little hugs. When the whole room threatened to descend on them, offering their congratulations, Annie called frantically, "Wait!"

Auggie caught her hands in his. "Wh-what is it, baby?" he whispered softly.

She reached down, grabbing the box from her lap and placing it in his hands trustingly. "You need to put the ring on my finger," she said with a beaming smile.

Auggie beamed back at her, catching her lips in a brief kiss before opening the box. Lifting the ring from the box, he held his hand out for Annie's hand. She placed her hand in hers, her eyes glowing with both adoration and trust, and Auggie slid the ring onto her finger. "Perfect fit," he whispered.

She grinned back at him like a fool. "I love you."

"I love you, too, baby."

"Kiss her!" Auggie's brothers chanted from around the room, and Auggie tugged her closer, claiming her lips in a passionate kiss, deepening it as her arms slid around his neck. He wasn't sure how long they were like that, sharing their love and the new change in their relationship, but he pulled away when he heard Avery's oldest, Lottie, and Grayson squealing, "Ewww!"

He pulled away slowly, and Annie ducked her head to hide against the hollow between his shoulder and his neck, and she clung to him while the rest of the family—even Marcus—joined to congratulate the couple.

Auggie couldn't help but grin from ear-to-ear, especially, when Cara teased him about her next grandchildren. He hoped either his brothers didn't plan on having more children, or that they at least didn't plan on using Isabelle and Joshua.

Because, sometime in the next decade, he sincerely hoped to be using them.

Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas * Merry Christmas

Annie could barely remind herself to breath in and out as she dialed the familiar number to her sister's house. She listened to the beat of silence before she heard her sister's excited voice. "Annie!" she greeted with a brilliant smile. "Merry Christmas!"

Annie smiled. "Merry Christmas, Dani." She paused. "Is… is, ah, everybody there?"

She could imagine Danielle looking around. "Yeah, sweetie. We're all here. Why?"

"C-can you put me on speaker phone?" she asked a bit nervously.

"Sure, sweetie. What's up?"

"Hi, Aunt Annie!" the girls called, excited to hear their aunt's voice. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, girls!" she called with a smile. "Merry Christmas, Michael."

"Merry Christmas, Annie," he called in return. It sounded like he was greeting her around his bite of cereal, and she couldn't help smiling at that.

"I—I have some really good news."

"Good news?" Dani asked, and Annie swallowed hard. She'd never get her news out if Dani kept interrupting.

"Yeah," she said, her excitement bubbling up inside her again. She still couldn't believe it. Auggie was still down with his family, talking about everything, but she had wanted to announce the news to Dani, Michael, and the girls. "I—I'm getting married," she said with awe and excitement in her voice.

Danielle grabbed up the phone, lifting it to her ear. "Annieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she screeched, her voice raising in pitch with every second her scream continued. "Are you serious?"

Annie giggled. "Y-yeah, I'm serious. Auggie just proposed while we were opening presents here. You should see the ring. It's so beautiful."

"Send me a picture!" Dani demanded excitedly. "I can't wait until you get back here to see. Send me a picture! Right now!"

Annie giggled again, and she said, "Okay. Hold on a sec." She aimed the camera on her phone at her ring, snapped the photo, and sent it off to Danielle. "Did you get it?" she asked.

Danielle reached for her cell phone, resting on the counter. When the picture arrived, she opened it up. "Annieeeee!" she squealed again. "It's beautiful! And so you! Where did Auggie get it?"

Annie smiled. "I—I dunno. Listen—I'm gonna go. I want to go be with him. I just—I just wanted to tell you. I couldn't wait until I got home, either."

Danielle grinned. "Thanks for calling, sweetie," she called softly, and the girls echoed, "Congratulations, Aunt Annie!"

Annie smiled. "Thanks. I love you guys! I'll talk to you when I get home, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Annie!"

With a smile, Annie disconnected the phone, smiling when the door creaked open. "Auggie," she whispered softly.

He returned her brilliant smile. "Hey, baby."

She ran to him again, launching herself into his arms, and he caught her, lifting her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around him. "I'm gonna marry you," she whispered with an enlightened, elated smile before she buried her face in his shoulder.

His grip around her tightened. "No," he teased. "I'm gonna marry you."

She giggled, kissing his shoulder. "I love you, Auggie." Her soft hands framed his face before she leaned in to kiss him again, her hands sliding into his hair as his tongue ran across her lower lip, gaining access.

When they could no longer breath, he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. She giggled as she stared into his eyes, and he whispered, "I love you more."

She rolled her eyes. "We can debate that for the rest of our lives," she promised, grinning back at him happily.

He reclaimed her lips in another kiss. "Just as long as I can win that argument a few times," he whispered huskily, and she giggled in response as he carried her to the bed.

_Somehow, though, he had known that if something happened between him and Annie, it wouldn't have been just a fling. There was something good, true, pure, and enduring about the relationship they had. No, if something happened, it would last forever._

And it did.

**A/N:** And some of you said you didn't know how it could get any better! Ahh, _now_ it can't get any better, haha.

Thank you all so much for taking this ride with me—I never thought it would be received so well, and I'm so grateful to each of you for every review, alert, and favorite! I still can't believe I got over 150 reviews! I will probably be gone for a week or so, regrouping and reading the lovely novel I got this weekend, but I have a million and one ideas for future stories, so I'll be back. :) Promise. :) I hope you think that's a good thing. *wink-wink*

Please review one final time and let me know how you liked the ending! :)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!


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